Darren Pratley cannot help but think that one day he may return to the Premier League

The midfielder has again been in top form this season as the Swans have started well and currently sit 7th in the Championship as well as progressing to the 3rd Round of the Carling Cup.

Some fantastic performances have led to positive reviews about a player who once played in the Premier League for Fulham.    However, he made the decision to drop down to League One level when he joined the Swans in the summer of 2006 and has pretty much not looked back since.

Given the captain's armband in the absence of Garry Monk in his first season, Pratley was an instrumental feature of the march to the League One title last time around and seems certain to play just as big a part this season as the Swans have half an eye on the league above.

But Pratley warned people - echoing the words of his manager - not to get carried away with early season form however it is evident from his words that it is difficult as football becomes one of the main talking points in the city.

He told the Western Mail “We have always been a confident bunch and we know we are in this league because we deserve to be after coming up as champions by some distance

“I don’t think any of us ever felt the Championship was going to be too good for us. We have still got a lot to prove, but we have to be reasonably pleased with our start.

“The loss at Charlton on the opening day was disappointing, but we took heart from the performance there. I think we were the better team on the day.

“Now, in the last two games, we seem to have got a bit of a reaction from losing and that has been good for us.

“The way we came back shows a bit of character.

“The Nottingham Forest win was handy in front our own fans because it gives them too that little bit of belief.

“The win at Plymouth was a good one for us. We were good on the road last year and it was good to get out first win away in the Championship, and it is a difficult place to go, Plymouth.

“But it is very early doors and we are not going to get carried away.

“My aim has always been to play in the Premiership. I had a couple of appearances at Fulham, but then I came here because I wanted to play games, I was young at Fulham and had some good lads ahead of me.

“But always at the back of your mind is that thought that one day you want to go back to Fulham and prove to them you were good enough to get in their team.

“You want to prove you can play in the Premiership and show you were not just some kind of one hit wonder.

“I know that is my ambition and I know that is the ambition in the rest of the team.

“All you can do in the end is train hard and work hard every day then do your best to go out there and win every game and see where that takes you.

“I try to set myself good standards and go about my work in the right way,” said Pratley.

“When I get good write-ups, I don’t go home and drink champagne and when I get criticised, I don’t go home and cry.

“It’s good to have people saying nice things about you, but if I play badly in the next game then I will be getting slated. I don’t read too much into all that.

“That is the way football is. You just have to get on with it and try to enjoy what you do.

“We’ve not been in this league for 24 years and the minimum requirement is that we are still in this league next year,” added Pratley

“After that we can look forward to other things.

“There’s no point in anyone talking about play-offs and promotion when you’re still in August, is there?”

Photo: Action Images

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