Graham Potter is getting ready for the toughest footballing week of his life.
The Swansea City boss is preparing to face Championships leaders Norwich City on Friday night and Premiership top dogs Manchester City in the FA Cup eight days later.
Sandwiched in between is another Championship away day at promotion-chasing West Brom on Wednesday, leaving Potter with little chance to catch his breath.
“It is going to be a good week to learn about ourselves. Norwich are the best team in the Championship and next week we play one of the best teams in the world,” said Potter.
“I don’t think any coach has done a better job in the UK than Daniel Farke this season at Norwich and Pep Guardiola is the best manager of my lifetime.
“This is unique and why you come to the UK to experience this type of challenge as a manager. It is some test for any club in the country, let alone us.
“But it’s brilliant. We will find out a lot about ourselves and we will be better for the experience.”
Swansea followed Norwich back into the Championship this season and currently find themselves in the same position at present as the Canaries finished last year, 14th.
Norwich only won one of their first six matches this season, but won 4-1 against the Swans at the Liberty Stadium and are currently two points clear of Leeds United at the top of the table.
“Norwich should be an inspiration for every football club,” added Potter.
“They faced relegation, they restructured their club, they sold some key players for good transfer fees, but were brave enough to carry on with their development and invest their money in other areas.
“Now look where they are. It is a fantastic achievement and all credit to them – they are the best team in our league.
“We started the game quite well against them at home and were probably the better team for the first 15 minutes. But then they punished us and it wasn’t a nice experience for us after that.
“They play really good football and they have grown and grown as a team. They didn’t start the season well, but they’ve stuck with it.”