'We will try to win for you'

26th October
First team

Mike van der Hoorn is urging the Jack Army to play their part once more this weekend as Swansea City look to get one over on former boss Paul Clement.

The Swans go in search of a second home victory in four days when they welcome Clement’s Reading side to SA1 on Saturday (3pm).

And van der Hoorn reckons the Liberty factor could be crucial in what he expects will be another hard-fought Championship game.

“I think the fans have been great so far this season,” the Swans centre-back said.

“We all appreciate it and we really respect what they do for us.

“We need that support as a young team. To have the fans behind us is so important because it gives us a boost in matches.

“I would say to the fans: keep doing what you are doing and we will try to win as many games as we can for you.

“We will try to do that against Reading but we know we will have to fight hard, just like in every game in this league.”

Clement returns to Wales some 10 months after his spell as Swans boss came to an end.

The now Reading manager departed last December with his team struggling at the wrong end of the Premier League.

But van der Hoorn has not forgotten the work Clement did in the previous season, when he steered the Swans to survival.

“He kept us in the Premier League and he deserves a lot of credit for that,” the Dutchman added.

“Unfortunately things did not go as well in the following season, but I think he will get a good reception from our fans.

“He set us up really well. You can see the same from Reading – they are hard to break down in the defence.

“I think he deserves credit because we were almost dead in the Premier League before he came in. He helped turn things around and got us back to winning and believing.”

After the struggles of their latter days in the Premier League, the Swans have made a fresh start under Graham Potter this season.

Potter’s youthful side are still developing, but van der Hoorn is hoping they can continue to climb the Championship table following Tuesday’s comeback victory over Blackburn.

“We had a tough first half the other night but some hard words were spoken at half-time and it fired us up to get the win,” he said.

“We have dropped some points at the Liberty this season and we did not want to do that again so we were pleased.

“Now we need to build on result. This weekend is an opportunity for us to get back-to-back victories and keep moving up the table, but we know we have to work hard and battle for every point.”