Vitor Matos | We want to make the travelling fans proud

Vitor Matos has called on his Swansea City players to deliver a performance their travelling supporters can be proud of when they open their Championship campaign at Stoke City.

2,765 Swans supporters are expected to make the journey to the bet365 Stadium on Saturday afternoon, with the away following set to be one of Swansea’s biggest for a league fixture since the club’s departure from the Premier League.

For Matos, that level of support is a reflection of the connection and belief around the club as Swansea prepare to begin a new campaign.

“First of all, a massive thank you to the fans,” said the Swans boss. 

“That support is massive for us and I think it shows the connection between the fans and the team.

“We want to put on a proper performance for the fans that they all feel proud of.

“At the start of the season, there’s always huge belief and that’s quite important for us. There’s huge responsibility and trust on us and we really want to deliver for them. That comes with commitment, passion, ambition and real hard work.”

Matos took charge of the Swans in November last year and guided the side to an 11th-place finish, with Swansea showing strong form during the closing stages of the campaign.

There is plenty of optimism around the club heading into the new season, with a number of new additions strengthening Matos' squad during the summer.

The Championship will also be more competitive this term, with the play-off places extended from six to eight, and Matos believes the narrow margins across the division will make consistency crucial.

“I think it's a good change in terms of competitiveness because if we look at last season, the difference between, let's say, eighth and 16th place was quite close until the end of the season," he added. 

"That just will show, first, the competitiveness will be tremendous, and at the same time it will show that you need to be quite stable to understand your position.

“You win, you probably are really close. You lose, you probably are really close as well to relegation. So it's a season where that line will be really, really thin, and you need to understand why you are consistent, why you are winning, why you are a strong team and why you are closer to competing.

“When you understand that, when a bad moment comes, you are always able to bounce back.”