'We will cope with the pressure'

4th May
First team

Carlos Carvalhal reckons Swansea City have proved they have the mental strength to cope with final stages of the race to stay in the Premier League.

Carlos Carvalhal reckons Swansea City have proved they have the mental strength to cope with final stages of the race to stay in the Premier League.

The Swans have three games left in which to secure the results required to get over the survival line.

Carvalhal’s 17th-placed team are just a point above the bottom three having failed to win in six league matches and make the tricky trip to Bournemouth this weekend.

They then face huge home fixtures against Southampton, who are currently 18th in the table, next Tuesday and then Stoke, who sit 19th, on the final day.

It promises to a nerve-wracking finale to the season for all the sides involved in the fight to avoid relegation – but Carvalhal is convinced his players’ character will see them through.

“We are confident,” Carvalhal declared. “Why are we confident? Because we had a very difficult game against Chelsea last weekend where we played face to face against a team with lots of quality.

“We conceded after four minutes. After that a team in our situation, against a team with great ability on the counter-attack, can be disturbed if we are not mentally strong enough.

“But my team dealt very well with the situation. Our mentality was not disturbed.

“We kept competing and we deserved something from the game. We can take confidence from that going into Bournemouth.”

The Swans are well aware of the importance of maintaining top-flight status.

But Carvalhal believes his players will still be able to perform despite the high stakes.

“We are completely focused on ourselves because we know this is in our hands,” he added.

“We have natural pressure, of course, but it’s not pressure that will disturb us. It is positive pressure which will make us work.

“It’s not easy to go away to play Bournemouth, but we will fight for three points, that’s absolutely sure.”