Graham Potter has warned his Swansea City players they need to be ready for an emotion-charged atmosphere at Villa Park on Saturday – or else they will be in “big trouble.”
For all the pats on the back given to Potter for returning the Swans to their traditional eye-pleasing style in recent weeks, the facts of life are that they have won just one Championship match in their last six.
At Villa, they face a 42,000 sell-out crowd – double the capacity at the Liberty Stadium – against a club desperate to create a frenzy for their new manager Dean Smith, his new assistant John Terry, and to honour the memory of their former chairman Doug Ellis who died last week.
“If we think we are going to go up there and play a nice game against a team who are not as motivated as us, we are wrong,” said Potter.
“Aston Villa are going to be fully at it and their crowd will be right behind them. We have to understand that because if we don’t, we’ll be in big trouble.”
Villa are a club desperate for a rallying cause after relegation from the Premier League, the promotion near miss last season under Steve Bruce and their former manager’s eventual sacking which paved the way for Smith to be head-hunted from Brentford, alongside Terry.
The Swans are three places but only one point above Villa and defeat for Potter’s team would signal a shift in momentum between two clubs both considered promotion contenders in the summer.
“We know they are going to be organised and they are going to be strong,” added Potter.
“And we know that we are going to have to be good. We need to rise to the occasion, because I think this will be a fantastic football occasion and hopefully a great advert for the Championship.
“It’s probably as tough an environment as we could go into in this division.
“Not long ago it might have been quite a negative environment for the home team, where you feel if you keep them quiet for a little while the supporters might turn.
“But now it’s completely different. The supporters will be right behind Aston Villa because they have a new management team.
“On top of that, I think it will be an emotional afternoon following the sad passing of Sir Doug Ellis, who was hugely influential at that club and in football in general.”
Villa fan Smith, who grew up in Birmingham, is prepared for an emotional entrance when he walks out onto the pitch ahead of his first game in charge.
The 47-year-old said: “Walking out at Villa Park on Saturday will be the emotional part.
“Then I’ll get my game head on. My family are almost waiting for that emotion – I’ve got people coming over from as far as the U.S. to watch my first game in charge.”
Swansea striking pair Wilfried Bony and Jefferson Montero are back in training after stepping up their recovery from training, but neither are thought to be likely to make their comebacks this weekend.