Lukasz Fabianski believes battle-scarred Swansea City will have the mental edge over their rivals as the relegation scrap reaches a conclusion.
The Poland goalkeeper was crowned player of the season at the club’s awards night on Wednesday, a deserved accolade for a 10-month stretch of consistency no other squad member could match.
Without Fabianski’s ability, it’s easy to imagine the Swans’ predicament would be a whole lot worse. As it is, they enter the final three games of the season just a point above the relegation zone with three clubs beneath them and six above them still in theoretical danger of going down.
But the World Cup-bound 33-year-old insists: “We have guys who have experienced this in the past and that can play an important part.
“I’ve been involved in this for three years, now, so I know how to deal with it.
“Mental attitude is the key. In the Premier League, all teams have ability. The difference when facing teams around us, will be the team who are stronger mentally. They will come out on top.
“You can’t worry about others. The good thing for us is that it is a still in our hands. We can’t look behind us. And we must remain calm.”
Carlos Carvalhal’s side still have two matches at home to come – against Southampton and Stoke – but Fabianski says the focus should be on Saturday’s clash at Bournemouth.
If the Swans fail to win there, they could find themselves back in the relegation zone should Southampton win at Everton in the 5.30pm kick-off.
“I am very confident we can stay up, but main focus is on the game against Bournemouth,” adds Fabianski.
“To win there would be massive and put us in strong position. I don’t know if one win will do it, we just have to go for three points in every game.
“Look at our games against the teams around us, we have always been confident. But we have got to be on top of our game – physically and mentally.”
As soon at the campaign is over, Fabianski will join up with the likes of Bayern Munich striker Robert Lewandowski as part of the Polish squad heading to the World Cup in Russia.
But he added: “I haven’t thought about the World Cup. My focus is on my everyday job. When the World Cup comes around, I will think about it.
“The season is not over yet, but I’ve been pleased so far with my form. Hopefully, we can finish the job.”
Fabianski beat off competition from Jordan Ayew, Alfie Mawson, Federico Fernandez and Ki Sung-Yueng to win the award, which is voted for by Swans fans.
“I am very pleased and proud to win this award – it is a great honour for me and I would like to thank all the supporters who voted for me.
“It has been a good season for me personally but the big thing now is to make sure we finish it well for the club.”
There was also a prize for striker Ayew, who was voted Players’ Player of the Year ahead of Fabianski and Mawson.
The Ghanaian has become a key figure in Carvalhal’s team, and is the Swans’ leading marksman with 11 goals so far in 2017-18, which meant he also took the top goalscorer award.
Ayew also took the goal of the season prize, which was voted for by guests at the awards dinner, for his memorable solo effort against Wolves.
Connor Roberts picked up the best newcomer award having broken into the first team this season, with Tammy Abraham and Sam Clucas also nominated.
George Byers was named Under-23/young player of the year ahead of Roberts and Jordan Garrick.
Abraham was also nominated for the community champion award along with Fernandez, but they were pipped to the prize by Leon Britton.