Pablo Hernandez summed up much of the excitement that currently sits within the Swans fanbase this week when he told the official site how much the squad were looking forward to Thursday's game with Malmo at the Liberty.

The Swans will make their Europa League bow on Thursday in front of a busy and noisy Liberty Stadium and the experience of someone like Pablo Hernandez will be vital to them in their first European campaign for over 20 years.

Pablo is one of the few squad players who has experience in playing in Europe and this could be his chance to permanently shine for the Swans after glimpses last season of what he is capable of.

I suspect if you asked Swans fans some of their disappointments of last season the name of Pablo Hernandez would be on many lists after some top notch performances were mixed with games where at times it seemed as if he could do no right. Too often we heard groans from the Swans support as a Hernandez pass found an opponent rather than a fellow Swans player.

However we know that class is permanent and there is no doubt that Pablo has the class to shine through and I fully expect him to show that on Thursday night as the Swans start their season against Malmo. An on form Pablo is extremely hard for defenders to deal with and the goalscoring threat of Michu and Bony could profit from those skills and that class.

“I’ve played in both the European competitions and teams make it very hard for you, and Malmo will be looking to do that on Thursday. " Pablo told the official site today

“It will be a good experience for us — a lot of the squad haven’t played in Europe before.

“But I think we can go far in this competition. We certainly have the quality in the squad now to progress and I think our style of play is important too."

And Swans fans will be hoping that he has much right in that article and here's to an on form Pablo causing plenty of headaches for Malmo come Thursday night!

Photo: Action Images

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