Swansea's final pre-season preparations begin in earnest tonight as they head back to Chester with "Super Bob" at the helm

It was a brief spell that Roberto spent at the Deva Stadium after being unceremoniously dumped from Swansea by his predecessor Kenny Jackett.

Wearing the captain's armband though he immediately became a crowd favourite even to such an extent that there were few complaints when Swansea came knocking a little over six months later with a managers contract in their hand.

And Roberto now takes his side - now a Championship team - back to the Deva Stadium this evening for a pre-season friendly that marks the start of the final countdown to the new season.   Assured of a warm welcome the game marks the end of Swansea's "road" preparations that included trips to Sweden and Spain before they return to the Liberty for games against West Brom (Saturday) and Den Haag (Tuesday)

Speaking to the Western Mail on the eve of the game, Roberto said: “We have achieved our targets from the tour on fitness levels.

“Our next three fixtures will be about the preparation for Charlton game.

“We plan to be as strong as we can; we have a few knocks and bruises but there are no injuries after a lot of hard work in Spain with four games, and I will be looking to take all senior players.

“And that’s important because I want as competitive squad as I can. The players set their own standards in Spain but now it will be a completely different test.

“It is fantastic preparation for us because we have to be adaptable as we showed last year in winning the league.

“If we want to compete we must be able to go to all different sides and adapt.”

Photo: Action Images

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