Swansea City crowd 'worth seven points'

MICHAEL Laudrup reckons the Liberty roar could win Swansea City as many as seven Premier League points this season.

Swansea's new manager got his first taste of the big-game atmosphere in SA1 when his team eased past West Ham United last weekend.

Swansea are back in action on their own patch when Sunderland visit tomorrow (3pm), and Laudrup believes the fans could play a vital role.

The Dane has become used to managing teams whose home games have been played in half-empty stadiums during spells in Spain and Russia.

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And he said: "When you have a public who are behind the squad like our fans, it can make a big difference for you.

"We will have bad moments during the season, but I'm 100 per cent sure the fans will back our team when those moments come and that will help the players.

"Over the season, having fans who are with you like that can give you five, six or seven points.

"Sometimes when you are losing a game they can help you get a draw, and sometimes if you are drawing they can push you forward to get the win.

"In a whole season, those points could make a huge difference.

"For instance if we have 45 or 46 points instead of 39, it could be huge for us."

Laudrup has expressed slight concerns over his players' focus ahead of the Sunderland clash.

It is not the circus that is the end of the transfer window which may be a problem, but the issue of complacency.

"Especially in smaller teams, you can get over-confidence," Laudrup added.

"Everybody tells you how great you are after a couple of good results and you can start to believe it.

"You can get carried away and that's why I'm here — to pull people down.

"You can't do more than repeat, repeat and repeat again that the next game will be more difficult than the last."

Swansea have slight injury concerns over Chico Flores (groin) and Wayne Routledge (thigh), but both were due to train today and should be fit to face the Black Cats.

That means Laudrup is likely to go with the same team that started the Hammers win, with new £5.5 million recruit Ki Sung-Yueng almost certainly having to make do with a place on the bench.

Pablo Hernandez will not be considered even if he completes his move to Swansea today, while big-money Sunderland signing Steven Fletcher is tipped to start among the substitutes as he is short of match fitness.

"Sunderland are guided by a very, very experienced manager who knows exactly what he wants," Laudrup said. "They have signed some big players and this will be another very hard game for us.

"What happened against West Ham has nothing to do with what will happen this weekend, because Sunderland have a different way of playing.

"We know everyone is happy in the city at the moment, but we now have to concentrate on another very important game."

Swansea will be backed by their biggest home following at the Liberty tomorrow after an extra 800 tickets were put on sale to their supporters. Only a handful were available last night. Meanwhile, tickets for the home game against Everton on September 22 go on sale via the club website from Monday.