NEIL Taylor insists he will relish his left-back battle with Ben Davies next season.
The two Welsh defenders are set to compete to be Swansea City's first choice option on one side of the back four when the new campaign kicks off.
Taylor began as Michael Laudrup's preferred choice before suffering a serious ankle injury that almost wiped out his season.
In the former Wrexham man's absence, local lad Ben Davies was thrust into first team action and grasped the opportunity with both hands.
Davies grew in stature with every passing game, scored his first goal in the 3-1 win over Stoke and won a Wales call-up.
By the end of the campaign Taylor had recovered from his horrific triple dislocation and fracture to share defensive duties with the 19-year-old from Neath.
Next season the pair will again be scrapping for the same Swansea shirt — and Taylor is excited about the tussle.
"Both of us will be looking forward to the challenge, and the team will need both of us, we'll both be playing quite a lot," said the Manchester City youth product.
"We have three domestic competitions and the Europa League.
"And one of us could get injured at any point, that's just the way it works.
"We'll see, but at the moment I'm going to switch off for a while, just have a few weeks off and concentrate on my family then come back raring to go.
"I don't think any player in the team knows if they're definitely first choice.
"I think it's just down to having personnel in the squad, and with six or seven maybe arriving in the summer who knows what's going to happen?"
Taylor returned to action in the closing stages of the 2-0 defeat at Chelsea late last month.
That came almost eight months after a challenge with Sunderland's Craig Gardner saw him stretchered off the field.
He played 66 minutes of the match against Manchester United at Old Trafford before coming on in Swansea's final match of the campaign when they lost 3-0 to Fulham.
"For me personally the season finished quite positively, but it's nice to get to the summer really," he said. "Now we can put the season to bed and move on to the next one.
"It was a bit of a sour note to lose against Fulham on the final day, that's just one of those things. On reflection it was definitely a good season."
After finishing ninth in the Premier League, Swansea have set high standards for 2013-14.
Laudrup's men also begin a European campaign in early August which may add significantly to their workload.
Wigan's FA Cup win means Swansea enter the Europa League at the third qualifying round stage.
If they make it through that two-legged clash, they move into the play-off stage where another victory home and away will mean a place in the group phase.
"I think it's about consolidating where we are," added Taylor.
"The Premier League's going to get stronger next season, there's more money available and teams are going to spend big, especially the teams below us.
"It's going to be really difficult. Just surviving in this league will be great again, but if we continue to finish in mid-table we're well above where we should be.
"We've moved back into a different qualifying round, but it's exciting for the club and it's exciting for the fans.
"Hopefully we'll take fans away with us and we can get into that group stage — that's when it gets exciting."
