SWANS: ‘I’m shocked, and I’m a Swansea fan!’: Saunders on the Swans’ flying start

Dean Saunders didn’t see this coming, and he’s a Swansea fan.

The 62-year-old former Liverpool and Aston Villa striker, now a regular pundit on talkSPORT, told BetSelect.co.uk he was shocked to find Swansea City top of the Championship.

“I’m shocked by how Swansea have started the season, and I’m a Swansea fan!” he said.

“Now, to see them top of the Championship after eight games, I have to say I was a bit shocked, to be honest. It has been a great start.”

The Swans sit top on 17 points, two clear of West Ham, following the comeback win at Lincoln in their last game before the international break.

‘They have defended brilliantly as a team’

Saunders believes the defence has built the start.

“They’ve conceded only six goals so far this season, which has been the foundation of their success. They have defended brilliantly as a team,” he said.

“They haven’t scored too many goals, but they’re hard to play against.”

The figures bear him out at both ends. Six conceded is the fewest in the division, while the Swans have scored 13 in eight games.

He had praise for Vitor Matos, with a warning attached.

“Vitor Matos is doing a great job; they just have to keep it going now. It’s a 5,000-metre race, not a sprint. It doesn’t matter who’s at the top now, you need to be up there after 46 games.”

From Swans apprentice to Liverpool and Villa

Swansea-born Saunders is the son of former Swans player and coach Roy Saunders. He came through as an apprentice and scored 12 goals in 49 league games before leaving in 1985.

He went on to join Liverpool for a then English record £2.9m, and later Aston Villa. He won 75 Wales caps and scored 22 goals.

He remembers the Swans’ first rise to the top.

“I obviously started my career there, and I remember watching John Toshack taking the club through the leagues, right to the top of the First Division with six games to go. When that was going on, the city took off in line with the football club,” he said.

Toshack’s side climbed from the bottom division to the top flight in barely three years. They led the First Division more than once in 1981-82, their first season there, and finished sixth.

Goodman’s five-game test starts with Norwich

The Swans return on Saturday at home to Norwich City (12.30pm kick-off), looking to keep their unbeaten home league record.

Norwich were the dark horse Aaron McLean picked out before the season, in an interview also for BetSelect.

Next comes a trip to Millwall. They finished third last season, but lost in the play-off semi-finals and went into the break 20th. Then West Ham, two points behind the Swans, visit on Saturday 24 October.

Don Goodman picked out the same run, with QPR to follow, as the stretch that will show whether the Swans are “the real deal”.

Thirteen away, three injured, one day to prepare

Matos has worked with a thin squad through the three-week break, with 13 first-team players away on international duty.

Lawrence Vigouroux (Chile), Ben Cabango (Wales), Stephen Welsh (Scotland), Stephen Eustáquio (Canada), Marko Stamenic and Elijah Just (New Zealand), Zan Vipotnik (Slovenia) and Adam Idah (Republic of Ireland) were all called up.

So was Eom Ji-sung, who scored the winner as South Korea beat Japan to Asian Games gold. Filip Lissah, Jeremy Monga, Tago Parente and Joseph Opoku were away with youth international sides.

With Josh Key, whose hamstring absence Matos warned could be lengthy, Ross Stewart and Cameron Burgess all injured, that left the head coach with as few as nine senior players at times.

Matos saw some benefit in the break, but not much.

“Three weeks without most of the players, that will of course give us a little bit time to think about consistency,” he said before the break. “It will not be easy having them away for so long.”

He said the focus would be on the players left at Fairwood.

“We need to take care of the players who stay here, keep developing them,” he said. “Of course, working on dynamics is not as easy, but you can still refine a few aspects; you can still take care of the players.”

The timing for Norwich is tight.

“Some players will only return on Thursday, which means then we have Friday and then we have a game on Saturday, so not ideal, but you just have to put up with it. That’s the truth,” he said.

All will be assessed before the Canaries’ visit.

Dean Saunders was speaking to BetSelect. When the fun stops, stop. Anyone worried about their gambling, or someone else’s, can find free, confidential support at BeGambleAware.org or on the National Gambling Helpline on 0808 8020 133.