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Charlton, Palace, Reading, Birmingham & Cardiff

Garry Monk gives Wales on Sunday his five games to watch next season

Not surprisingly he has picked the opening day trip to Charlton as a key one although recent history suggests that losing on the opening day for the Swans is not the death knell that it could be.

Trips to Crystal Palace, Reading and Cardiff City are also up there in Monk's list together with the visit of the recently relegated Birmingham City in November.

All five games will prove tough tests for the Swans and any kind of decent return from the five fixtures will bode well for other results across the season.

Explaining his logic Monk, had the following to say: -

Charlton - “To go up against that in your first game will be great for us and the fact it’s away from home and the challenge from that aspect means it will be a great way to start.”

Crystal Palace - "I've picked this one, not just because going to a side like Palace will be interesting, but because it’s the start of a block of games that could really see what we’re about.

“ We’ve got Derby at home three days later in midweek and then Burnley at home. We might get a good idea of where we are after those games.”

Reading - “They’ve kept a lot of their players, stayed strong and will have money to spend too and played some great football when they were last in this division. Going there could be very interesting .”

Birmingham - “They’ve got some fantastic players and this one could be a great game because I can just see the atmosphere being amazing at the Liberty.

“They’ve got a big support and like a lot of teams they’ll want to see our place for the first time and being one of the promotion favourites should make it special.”

Cardiff - "I really can’t wait to the game at their place because getting a win on your rivals’ patch can mean everything, even if the season is going to be about more than our games with Cardiff.”

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