Swansea captain Garry Monk reacts to the words of John Toshack and sets out to prove him wrong

It appears that the words of Toshack may have got under the skin of the Swansea squad after the Wales boss predicted a season of struggle for the Swans in the Championship.

Toshack said that the Swans lacked the Championship experience and that would count against them over the next nine months or so as they embark on a season of Championship football.

But whilst Roberto agreed with some of the content, it is clear that the words have had some discussion behind the scenes at the Swans and they could fire the team onto proving him wrong en route to a better season than anticipated.

And, as club captain, it looks as if it was up to Monk to express the views and he told the Western Mail: “I can see what John Toshack is saying about us in terms of experience because not a lot of us have played in the division before and it will be a new environment for a lot of the lads.

“But it I’m confident enough to say it won’t be a struggle for us. It will be tough – I’m not naive enough to expect it to be easy – but having played in that league before, I believe we’re good enough to impose ourselves.

“If we get our confidence going with a couple of early wins, I think we’ll go from strength to strength.

“When you think about it, we didn’t have that much experience last season. We had a lot of boys who came in from different countries who adapted straight away, and I don’t see why the same thing can’t happen this year.

“In a way it’s good that people are writing us off. That should spur us on because it gives us the chance to prove them wrong."

And Roberto was again echoing his own views: “What John Toshack said is true – we don’t have that experience at Championship level.

“But I would rather have it that way. This football club is going forward with a new stadium and hungry players trying to reach the dream of the Premier League.

“We do not have the experience and he is right when he says it will be very, very tough, but we can also show we are good enough that we don’t have to rely on experience."

Photo: Action Images

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