Andrea Orlandi revealed that the Swans gained another fan at Newcastle last Saturday

Despite the 3-0 scoreline, Orlandi revealed that Fabricio Coloccini was full of praise for the way the Swans played in the game after considering themselves unlucky for not managing to get on the scoresheet.

Orlandi told the official site "Despite the scoreline, he (Coloccini) said he was very impressed with the way we played

"He said that if we keep playing like that we'll do really well this season.

"I could see in his face that he was suffering a bit in the second-half because we were camped in their half.

"But he is a quality player and was outstanding. But that's what you get with £9.5m and 30 caps for your country. I wasn't surprised he picked up the man-of-the-match award.'

"I was in the youth side at Alaves when he was there on loan as a 20-year-old from AC Milan,'' explained Orlandi. "I knew him, but didn't, if you know what I mean?

"One of my best friends is also a close friend of his, so we were well aware of each other before the game without having spoken to one another.

"We spoke in the tunnel before kick-off and once or twice during the game. I came close with a couple of shots and he told me to calm down!

"I had to get his shirt after the game. I've got quite a few now like Liam Rosenior (Reading), Bobby Zamora (Fulham), Paul Konchesky (Fulham), Luciano Becchio (Leeds) and Jordi Gomez (Wigan)!'

"I am already looking forward to the return game,'' he added. "And I'm sure we'll start it properly next time.

"After the game up there, especially the last hour, we feel we can compete with them.

"With our fans behind us in a packed Liberty, I think it will be a different story down here.

"The same thing happened to us at Reading last year when we were overawed playing against a team just coming down from the Premier League. We lost 4-0 up there, but beat them quite comfortably 2-0 at the Liberty.''

Photo: Action Images

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