SWANS: Swansea eye response as Vigouroux faces old club Burnley

Vitor Matos has warned that Burnley are far better than their bottom-of-the-table position suggests, as Swansea City look to respond to their first defeat of the season on Saturday.

The Swans host the newly relegated side at the Swansea.com Stadium (3pm kick-off), days after an unbeaten start ended in a 3-1 loss at Southampton.

“You always have feedback and always try to understand why, but you need to understand as well why you are in a good moment,” said Matos.

“Then you need to bring that once more, find consistency on that, and impose yourself on the next one. That’s what we’re going to do against Burnley. We expect a really good game again.”

‘The position doesn’t translate how good they are’

Burnley arrive 23rd, without a win and having conceded a league-high 13 goals in their six games, but Matos is having none of the form guide.

“It’s a team that the position doesn’t really translate how good they are. It’s a team that got relegated from the Premier League with a really good squad, good players and a new coach,” he said.

“They are in this moment of adjusting themselves, but the quality is there. There were games where they could have had more. They didn’t, so that’s why it seems a little bit strange. But it’s the early stage in the season still.”

The visitors have also added a familiar name in Jamie Vardy, and Matos expects the 39-year-old to matter.

“If someone can make a difference, it’s someone like him who understands how to score goals, and he moves really well,” he said.

“His finishing skills are there. He knows how the team moves. Of course, it’s different when you are 39 and not 25, but the experience is there, and when he still has the desire to play, of course he can have an impact.”

The goals will come, says Matos

Swansea are the last side in the division still to concede at home, three games without letting one in, but they have also drawn two of those blank at the other end.

“It’s more about creating chances. You want to increase the possibilities and the probabilities to score, and by doing that you need to be closer to the goal,” said Matos.

“For us, the focus is really about how to arrive there, how to stay there, and how to find different ways to score. Not only with one, but with a lot of variability.

“We had really good chances in the other games. Unfortunately, we didn’t score. Now it’s about getting to the next one.”

The goalkeeper who never got a look-in

If anyone has extra motivation on Saturday it is Lawrence Vigouroux, who faces the club where his Premier League chance never came. The goalkeeper was on Burnley’s books during their top-flight season without making a league appearance.

He has since become a cornerstone of this Swansea side, marking his 100th appearance for the club against Southampton on Tuesday, and has already faced Burnley twice since joining, both defeats in their promotion season. Matos rates him the best in the division.

“For me, there is no better goalkeeper in the league, for many reasons. In my view, he’s someone who doesn’t need to be involved a lot to make an unbelievable save,” said Matos.

“When you want to be dominant like us and push the opposition back, pressing, imposing yourself with the ball, you need a goalkeeper who can still be ready when he’s not touching the ball for a long period. He can offer you a lot in terms of controlling the space and communication.”

Matos went further, backing the Chilean to reach the level Burnley never gave him.

“He was at Burnley when they were in the Premier League and didn’t get a look-in. The way he plays for you suggests that he could be a Premier League goalkeeper before his career is over. I hope he’ll be in the Premier League with us.”

A quick chance to respond

The defeat at St Mary’s was Swansea’s first of the campaign, leaving them third and two points behind leaders West Bromwich Albion going into the weekend, though Matos was named the Championship’s manager of the month for August earlier in the week.

Burnley, for all their struggles, have won their last two visits to Swansea and are unbeaten in four against the Welsh side, a record the Swans will want to end at the first opportunity.