Swansea City will face their nearest and dearest on Saturday evening in the shape of Cardiff City. On the showing from yesterdays training sessions it looks like they will either be out on their feet before the game starts, or raring to go to avoid a repeat of a gruelling three hours at Fairwood.

On the face of it Jamal Lowe is looking extremely sharp, his time at Bournemouth training with players who have maintained the Cherries place at the top table shining through. The shuttle runs and extreme tests on the body were there for all to see as much as the full on practice session with the ball.

The players were out on their feet at times on a fairly warm September day and they looked extremely happy when the final whistle went to end one of Michael Duff’s well meant but exhausting sessions. We’ve mentioned these types of training methods already within these pages, remember the ‘Gaffers Day’ report ? Well, it looked like that all paled in to insignificance as the demanding routines were applied minute after minute. Some players were literally laying on the ground sucking in whatever air they could.

Gaffers day report —> Duff’s training regime

The above report spells it out very clearly, if you want to earn a start in one of Michael Duff’s sides you have to be as fit as possible, and then some to even stand a chance this season at Swansea.

The term ‘being out on your feet’ was most certainly the right saying for those exhausted Swans players yesterday. As the morning moved in to the afternoon the pace was relentless, and the above mentioned ‘full on’ match with some choice tackling and lovely finishing from Jamal Lowe displayed some real endeavour. That’s a word we’ve used a lot this week, and it’s one we will use some more as we move in to the weekend for sure.

It’s a hard knock life by all accounts, but don’t feel too sorry for the lads this morning, if there’s anyone in the Championship who can deliver that solid kick up the behind this current Swansea City squad needs it’s Michael Duff. Onwards you JB’s !

Photographs Open Source

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