Tuesday 8 May 2018 20:38, UK
Swansea City manager Carlos Carvalhal is confident his players will keep the club in the Premier League this season despite their recent poor form.
The Swans' poorly timed slump continued on Saturday when they registered a seventh league game in a row without a win - going down 1-0 at Bournemouth - with results elsewhere seeing them slip back into the bottom three.
They can still save themselves by winning their final two home games, starting with Southampton on Tuesday and then already-relegated Stoke, though defeat against the Saints would mean they can only stay up on goal difference.
Carvalhal, who was drafted in to replace Paul Clement in December to deliver survival, is confident his men can achieve the task in hand.
"I believe in myself. I believe in my players," he said. "My target is try to get them to believe in themselves and believe in their colleagues.
"This is my target. These are the things that we must do.
"Again, I would be talking in a completely different way if, for example, we had to win on Tuesday and had to wait for two or three results.
"This is something really bad. When it is in your hands to do it, let's do it. This is the way. And I believe we can do it."
When Swansea last won - a 4-1 hammering of West Ham in early March - they were 13th and looking for a top-half finish.
But a poor run of form, which has featured defeats to Manchester United, Manchester City and Chelsea, has seen a turn in fortunes for the Swans.
"What changed? Changed that we play Manchester United. Manchester City. We played Chelsea at home," the Portuguese added.
"We played very well against Chelsea, very well against Everton, we draw. We drew with West Brom.
"As you know, they changed the manager so it is not so bad because they won all the games after this. We draw.
"Nothing changed. The calendar was harder for us.
"The calendar also says that we have two home games against teams that are fighting with us.
"So I don't look at things in a negative way. I just look at things in a positive way."
Swansea are level on points with the Saints, but below them on goal difference and the game on Tuesday has the air of a relegation play-off.
Carvalhal has managed in some big games in his career - the Championship play-off final with Sheffield Wednesday and cup finals in Portugal among them - though he would not be drawn on whether this was the biggest.
"This is an important game," he conceded. "We must have emotional control and we must act and do the proper things. Not to make mistakes. This is the way.
"If you are asking if it is the most important game of my career, it is an important game.
"I can't say it is more important because when you play finals, finals are finals. It is important of course."
