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Luke Williams says Swansea City are in no doubt about the significance of the south Wales derby as they chase the “ecstasy” that comes with victory over Cardiff City.
Swansea host the Bluebirds on Sunday in what will be Williams’ second derby as head coach.
He describes the last meeting with Cardiff, a 2-0 victory in March, as his best day since taking charge at Swansea last January.
Swansea have won five of the last six games against their fiercest rivals, and have lost only two of the last 11.
That one-sided record has led to suggestions that Swansea have a better understanding than Cardiff of what success on derby day means to their fans.
“I can’t talk about what it means to them (Cardiff),” Williams said.
“I have never been in inside their camp and I don’t have a strong understanding of their club.
“I can only talk about this club. I know how much it means here, I know how much it means to me, I know how much it means to the players and more importantly, I know exactly how much it means to the fans because I think I met every single one of them last time.
“We can’t guarantee anything. You can play great and lose, you can play poorly and win.
“But we know what it means. That is the most important thing, that we know what it means.”
Swansea warmed up for Cardiff’s visit by easing to a 3-0 win over Preston North End last weekend, a result which secured their first points of the new Championship season after an opening-day loss at Middlesbrough.
Erol Bulut’s Cardiff side are yet to get off the mark in the league having been beaten at home by Sunderland before going down 5-0 at Burnley last Saturday, despite an encouraging first-half performance.
Williams dismisses the idea that Cardiff have had a poor start to the season – and insists previous results count for nothing on this weekend anyway.
“It’s a cup game,” Williams added. “They just give points at the end.
“They (Cardiff) are a very good team unfortunately. They have lots of good players and carry a huge threat. They have got a bit of everything - they have toughness but they have flair and quality as well, they have experience.
“We have to make a really good performance and be brave because they have everything you need to be a good team in their ranks.”
Swansea will be boosted by the return to fitness of Joe Allen, who adds welcome experience to a squad which could be further strengthened come the weekend by two new signings.
The four new recruits already brought in this summer – Lawrence Vigouroux, Eom Ji-Sung, Goncalo Franco and Zan Vipotnik – are in line to make first appearances in what is the most significant fixture of the season.
And though Swansea’s recruitment work has seen players come from far and wide this summer, Williams says the potential derby debutants are well aware of what is at stake thanks largely to the fans on the club’s staff.
“Those guys they have to eat which means they have to go near the chef, so they know,” he added.
“The chef as you know is very good with words and can speak very passionately. It doesn’t matter if you can’t understand any of his words, you know.
“We have Swansea through-and-through, born-and-bred people, an army of them here. They set the tone for all of us.”
