Swansea City’s Ki Sung-Yueng has told his teammates it’s time to walk the walk to match their fighting talk.
The South Korean midfielder has only recently returned to the side after injury, but that has not eased his frustration over recent results.
The Swans face Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday with only two victories from nine Premier League games, a return that has left them above the relegation zone only on goal difference.
Manager Paul Clement has stressed he is still trying to blend new signings into his team, two of whom – Wilfried Bony and Renato Sanches – have been hampered by injury and will be absent against the Gunners.
But Ki admitted: “At the end of the last campaign we showed our desire and we had enough quality in the team to stay up. We have to show them again on the pitch.
“If we just keep saying it and not actually doing it, there is no point. Sometimes we play well and sometimes we don’t.
“There is always pressure on the team because this is the Premier League. We have to deal with it.
“We haven’t won a lot of games this season and we need to overcome this situation quickly,” said South Korean ace Ki.
“I believe that with the players in this squad we have enough quality to handle the pressure. If we win one game the situation will change quickly.
“We have to focus to face Arsenal and then Brighton, these two games are going to be massive for us.
“We have had good wins against Arsenal in the past. Of course it is going to be difficult and they have enough quality to beat us.
“They are likely to have the ball more than us, but I think we have to be solid. We have good memories against them and we will try our best to win the game.”
A goalless draw with Tottenham at Wembley last month does provide Clement’s side with some encouragement.
And while Arsenal have won all their home games in the league this season, Swansea have been better on the road than they have at home.
Clement’s side have only lost once in four away matches and ground out that draw at Tottenham last month. However, they have only scored six goals in nine games this season and were beaten by Manchester United in the Carabao Cup in midweek.
Martin Olsson suffered a hamstring strain in the Carabao Cup defeat to Manchester United and misses out alongside Sanches (thigh), Bony (hamstring) and Kyle Bartley (knee).
Sam Clucas could be in line to replace Olsson and feature at left wing-back if head coach Paul Clement opts for a three-man central defence.
Opta stats
Swansea City have won three times away at the Emirates Stadium in the Premier League – only Chelsea have defeated Arsenal in the competition more often there (4).
Swansea City have attempted just 18 shots on target and 72 shots overall this season in the Premier League – the fewest in the league. Spurs’ striker Harry Kane has attempted three more shots on target than Swansea on his own (21).
Alexandre Lacazette (five goals) is one of only five players to have scored 5+ goals in their opening nine Premier League appearances for Arsenal, after Alexis Sanchez (7), Andrey Arshavin (6), Ian Wright (6) and Davor Suker (5). The record by an Arsenal player in their first 10 PL apps for the club is held by teammate Sanchez (8)
This will be Arsene Wenger’s 800th Premier League game in charge of Arsenal – only Sir Alex Ferguson (810) has managed more games in the competition. He has currently overseen 478 more English top-flight games (799) than Swansea themselves have played (321).
Olivier Giroud has been directly involved in five goals in seven Premier League starts against Swansea (three goals, two assists), although only one of those goal involvements has arrived on home soil (scored in March 2014).