Michael Laudrup has one eye on international break

By Michael Penkman, Reporter | 05 October 2013

Michael Laudrup calls for his swansea City players to put in one last big performance against Southampton on Sunday before the two-week international break.

Swansea City manager Michael Laudrup has urged his players to put in one last big performance before next weekend's international break.

The Welsh outfit travel to the South Coast on Sunday for a match with Southampton, which will be their seventh within the last 20 days due to their involvement in the Europa League.

Laudrup's men beat St Gallen 1-0 on Thursday to make it two wins out of two in Europe, and the Dane understands the strain that his players must be feeling.

"After another Europa League game we have to focus back on the Premier League for this last game before the international break," he told reporters. "It will mean we have played seven games in 20 days, and we know it will be tough on Sunday.

"We also know we have a two-week break after this game, and when we come back to the Premier League after that we have three home games and an away game at Cardiff in the next four, so this is important for us.

"We have seven points, but we all knew the first seven games would be very tough. So let's see what we can get on Sunday. Winning always brings something extra, the players may be tired but we know we can relax after Sunday."

The Swans lie 13th in the league with two wins, a draw and three defeats from their six games so far.