Laudrup urges Swans to end energy-sapping run of fixtures with win at Saints
1:21pm Friday 4th October 2013 in Sport
Michael Laudrup has urged his Swansea side to end an energy-sapping run of fixtures with victory at Saints on Sunday.
The Welsh club's Europa League demands mean the clash at St Mary's will be their seventh game in just 20 days.
The majority of Laudrup's squad will get the chance for some much-needed respite thanks to the international break which follows this weekend's Premier League fixtures, and a third consecutive away win would be an ideal boost for the Dane.
He said: "After another Europa League game (Thursday's 1-0 win over St Gallen) we have to focus back on the Premier League for this last game before the international break.
"It will be mean we have played seven games in 20 days, and we know it will be tough on Sunday.
"But we also know we have a two-week break after this game, and when we come back to the Premier League after that we have three home games and an away game at Cardiff in the next four, so this is important for us.
"We have seven points, but we all knew the first seven games would be very tough.
"So let's see what we can get on Sunday. Winning always brings something extra, the players may be tired but we know we can relax after Sunday."
Thursday's win over St Gallen, in a scrappy and, at times, ill-tempered affair, left Swansea sitting pretty at the top of Group A in the Europa League.
But Laudrup, who will again be without injured captain Ashley Williams for the trip to face the Saints, does not believe those results have much of an impact on Premier League form.
He said: "We have to isloate the different competitions. Before beating St Gallen we had lost our last two games.
"If every couple of games you win one and then lose one, you may be thinking you are going well, but you could be winning all your cup games and losing all your league games."
Southampton have enjoyed an excellent start to the season, and currently sit sixth in the table, and Laudrup has been impressed with what he has seen from Mauricio Pochettino's side.
He said: "Southampton have a good team, last year when we went there they were struggling, but they played well.
"Since then they have brought in a new manager, they have some new players and they are building on what was there.
"They have a good squad, have made a good start, and they play good football.
"It will be difficult as it's a game between two sides who like to have control of the ball, and we will need to ensure we have enough of it, as if they have it too much we will have a lot of running to do, which will be tough after our run of games."
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