SWANSEA City may be sailing smoothly through their first Premier League season — but Nathan Dyer has endured a rougher ride.

The diminutive winger has received his fair share of bumps and bruises from over-zealous defenders in the first half of the campaign.

Dyer's trickery and quick feet mean he has regularly been upended by a mistimed tackle.

Such challenges began raining in during the closing stages of Tuesday's draw with Chelsea.

First Ashley Cole was sent off after he was shown a second yellow card for a lunge on Dyer that left the wideman sprawled on the Liberty turf.

No sooner had the game restarted than Raul Meireles was booked for again putting Dyer on the deck.

And the former Southampton man was then felled for a third time as David Luiz caught him and somehow escaped a caution.

Dyer could be forgiven for feeling a little battered and bruised following the episode.

But he insists the trips and kicks are all part of the game.

"It's not too nice getting your legs whacked all the time, but that's what happens," said Dyer.

"In football you get players who will kick you more and teams that will be more physical.

"In the Championship you had teams like that. Some team will try to stop you by any means possible.

"I don't like to see players sent off, I like it to be 11 v 11 and the best team winning, so Cole getting a red card was unfortunate.

"It was a bit of a lunge and I got the ball past him so obviously the referee had to do what he did.

"He's an amazing left-back, he's been world class for a number of years now, so it's great to test myself against the best of the best."

Some have suggested Dyer has not always been forced to the floor.

Arsene Wenger claimed the Trowbridge-born flyer dived to win a penalty against Arsenal rather than being caught by Aaron Ramsey.

Dyer is light on his feet but adamant he never chooses to go to ground.

"He's Arsenal's manager so he's going to stick up for his team, but I've never been a cheat and I've never dived in my whole career. I have no need to," said the 24-year-old.

"I felt he took my leg away, but I don't expect them to see it from that point of view which is fair enough.

"He's entitled to his opinion.

"It doesn't really bother me. People can say what they want, I tend to take it with a pinch of salt.

"I know who I am and people around me do as well.

"As long as you're true to yourself there's no problem."

Dyer has found the form of his life in his first season in the top flight.

The man who was signed from the Saints for £400,000 in the summer of 2009 after a successful loan spell at the Liberty, has been at his bamboozling best so far this term.

His trickery and pace have long been a feature of his game, but this season has added substance to that style in the form of goals.

Dyer has netted four times already, doubling the total he scored in the whole last campaign.

But he still found himself out of the team in December after his high standards slipped ever so slightly.

That spell on the sidelines gave him the motivation to raise his performances level even further.

"We've got such a massive squad and players that can come in and play to a high standard," Dyer added.

"You're always on your toes in training and making sure that you're working hard.

"The gaffer decided to put me out of the team at that point so I didn't argue. I just wanted to work harder and harder.

"Now I'm back in the team it's given me that extra boost, so hopefully I won't come out again.

"As I was out of the team, it did give me a chance to work on other things, to get a bit fitter, and I got recalled."

Dyer has excelled since winning back his place and should again start at West Brom tomorrow.

His form may just have caught the attention of Fabio Capello, who was at the Liberty for Swansea's match against the Gunners when Dyer was named man of the match.

The England manager also dispatched his assistant, Stuart Pearce, to take another look at Dyer and the rest of his England-qualified team-mates at training this week.

Such a move has fuelled rumours that he, along with the likes of Leon Britton, Scott Sinclair and Danny Graham, is in real contention for an international call-up.

But Dyer is refusing to get carried away.

"I saw him (Pearce) at the training ground talking to the gaffer," he said.

"Obviously we have a lot of players that could get called up, but I don't like to think about it too much.

"If it happens, it happens, I'm just here to play football. Once you get ahead of yourself, that's when things start to go wrong. You need to stay focused and keep going.

"It was good of Fabio Capello to come down.

"It's really nice to know they've taken the time to come down and see how we play."

Dyer is competing with top talents like Theo Walcott and Aaron Lennon for a place on the England right wing.

But just to be mentioned in the same sentence as his country's best shows how far he's come.

Dyer had struggled to hold down a first-team place at St Mary's before joining Swansea.

After settling in South Wales, he went on to become a regular under Roberto Martinez and then Paulo Sousa before Rodgers's arrival 18 months ago.

"To be honest I never would have thought about England a few years ago, I was just looking to get in the team and play regularly," Dyer added.

"For me as a person, it's easy not to think about those sort of things too much.

"I just get on with my everyday life and keep going.

"Now this is being speculated about which is really nice, and if they do bring me in I'd be over the moon.

"It's every boy's dream growing up to play in the Premier League and play for England, so I'd love that."

Swansea fans would like to see one of theirs playing for England.

But they would probably settle for Dyer playing in Wales for a long time yet.