Michael Laudrup has insisted that Swansea City will prove this week that they are made of stern stuff by responding positively from their South Wales derby defeat to Cardiff City.
A header from former Swans loanee Steven Caulker inflicted a 1-0 loss on Laudrup's side on Sunday, in the first Premier League meeting between the two fierce Welsh rivals.
Two fixtures in six days, the first of which is a visit to Kuban Krasnodar in the Europa League on Thursday, means that Swansea have no time to dwell on their defeat, though, and their Danish manager has revealed that his players are motivated to respond in the right manner, with victories in both.
"I've said a lot of times the team has character and they will show it," Laudrup told reporters. "But it is always good to get confirmation of something and I am sure we will see a reaction from the team because they are so disappointed at this loss.
"The game on Thursday is a five-hour flight away and four hours' time difference. It's a lot of travelling. But I've said it before and I will say again, the reason for that is that we deserve it, we won the League Cup last year so we are in Europe.
"We will try to go to Russia and win because we have some history with them after they scored in the last seconds against us in Swansea. Then we face another strong physical team in Stoke at home on Sunday which, just before the international break, is a game we really want and need to win."
Swansea were leapfrogged by Cardiff in the Premier League table over the weekend, and now sit 13th.
Joe Fish
