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Swansea City aim to go round the world all over again as they host Southampton

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FOOTAGE of Swansea City has reached such far flung places as Vietnam, the Philippines and the Faroe Islands this week.

The internet figures tell us they were even checking it out in Malaysia.

And to think Swansea do not play their home games in red shirts.

Such is the pulling power of a Premier League club, and in particular one with a superstar as their manager.

In case you have not heard, Michael Laudrup led the Swansea staff in a kickabout against the Welsh football press the other day.

Predictably, the media lads were given a lesson — and that was despite the fact that Laudrup and Co barely broke sweat.

Tomorrow the cameras will once again be trained on Laudrup, but tomorrow the serious business returns.

Not in action last weekend because Wigan were at Wembley, Swansea resume the Premier League run-in with a home game against Southampton.

There are bigger games in the top flight this weekend.

Tottenham face Manchester City, Chelsea go to Liverpool and Manchester United take on Aston Villa.

There are battles at the bottom, like Queens Park Rangers against Stoke and Norwich versus Reading.

The chances are, Swansea's meeting with Southampton will not feature at the top end of Match of the Day's running order.

But regardless of everything else that is going on in the Premier League this weekend, Laudrup views Southampton's visit to SA1 as a key game.

He has spent the build-up stressing as much to his players, the Dane doing his best to prevent a weary, end-of-season performance.

This is not an easy spell in the campaign for Laudrup's players.

They have achieved their prime target for the season — and a whole lot more — and that means a danger that focus may drift.

In fairness, Swansea have continued playing with good intensity even after that sparkling week spanning February and March which brought them the Capital One Cup and their 40th Premier League point.

Yet results have dipped.

The draw at Norwich City last time out meant a first Swansea point in four games and, while Laudrup has been relatively happy with his team's performance level, he will be angry if the points return does not improve in the final month of the campaign.

Hence he is billing Southampton's visit as a vital fixture.

Laudrup believes his Swansea side will not have done themselves justice if they do not complete their job this term.

That means finishing in the top half of the Premier League and, to get there, he reckons at least two more victories are required from the six games that remain in 2012-13.

Given that Swansea still have to face Chelsea and the two Manchester clubs, Laudrup is being typically realistic.

Results in all three of those fixtures are not out of the question, for Swansea have proved they can trouble even the best teams in the country over the last couple of years.

But the odds are much shorter on Swansea getting something from their other games — at Wigan, at home to Fulham and against the Saints tomorrow.

Southampton should not be taken lightly, however.

Mauricio Pochettino's English may still be a work in progress, but his team are coming on fast.

There was widespread condemnation for Saints chairman Nicola Cortese back in January when he jettisoned Nigel Adkins, the man behind successive promotions at St Mary's.

But after 16 points from 11 league games under former Espanyol coach Pochettino, Cortese is the one laughing now

"The manner in which he has come in and lifted the club to a new level shows it was a decision that's been proved right," Southampton's veteran keeper, Kelvin Davis, said last week.

"We are in a state of mind where we can feel we can win every game. There's certainly been a rise in player performance. The lads have reacted positively."

A glance at Pochettino's results tells you that.

Southampton have humbled Manchester City, Liverpool and Chelsea in recent times, and their draw with West Ham last time out means they are now unbeaten in five games.

A few weeks ago, it seemed their visit to Wales would be a quest for points in the scrap against relegation.

Yet they cross the Bridge with confidence high, and knowing a victory will draw them level on 41 points with their hosts.

"They have done very well in the last few weeks," Laudrup conceded.

"They are in a good moment, and when you are in good moment you have to do everything to keep it going, because in this league it's so easy to go into a bad run where you lose four or five games.

"So many teams have done that this season — Norwich, Sunderland, Stoke, the bottom three.

"That's why it is so important to end a bad run quickly if you can.

"We did that by getting the draw at Norwich after three defeats.

"It was important to come back and get a point, and now we hope to build on that."

If Swansea are to do so, they will probably need to defend better than they have in recent weeks against a bright Southampton forward line.

With Rickie Lambert, Jay Rodriguez, Adam Lallana and Gaston Ramirez all in contention to start, Pochettino has forward players who can cause problems.

Having conceded eight goals in their last four matches, Swansea's first task tomorrow will be to shut that lot out.

The home side will then hope to win the battle for the ball against another team who have won plaudits for their style this season.

If they manage that, Laudrup will be confident that Michu and Co can strike a blow in the race for the top ten.

Swansea City aim to go round the world all over again as they host Southampton


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