Captain's Thoughts Ahead Of Today's Friendly

Club captain Garry Monk says the team will be looking to impress and prove themselves in today's friendly against Kilmarnock.

Apart from tomorrow's final pre-season friendly at Port Talbot, today will be the last chance for the players to prove themselves ahead of the season's opening game next weekend at Leicester City.

Manager Paulo Sousa told the press yesterday that every player in his squad is in contention to start next Saturday and they'll all be looking to impress the gaffer and his assistant Bruno Oliveira this afternoon.

Garry Monk told Wales online that no one is guaranteed a first-team place for the start of the new Championship campaign:

"This is last chance for all of us to stake our claim for the Leicester game,"

"No-one is guaranteed a place in the starting XI.

"Hopefully I`ve done enough but you never know. I`m sure that`s how all the boys feel.

"We are all pushing for that game and it`s really competitive. Everyone wants to be involved when the real season kicks off.

"I don`t know how close this team will be to the one that starts in Leicester. But you would have thought the gaffer would want to get close and give a number of players a full 90 minutes.

"You never know in football though. Paulo doesn`t give much away and everyone is on their toes."

Paulo Sousa will also be looking to see which formation best suits his squad and our opposition next week. The 38 year-old has tested out a number of different set-ups - 4-5-1, 4-4-2 and even 3-5-2.

Gorka Pintado and Stephen Dobbie will be competing for a place up front, especially if we play 4-5-1, while there's plenty of competition in midfield with the likes of Orlandi, Gower, Dyer, Britton, Allen and new signing Jordi Lopez.

In defence, full backs Marcos Painter and Angel Rangel may find it difficult to earn starting places as they are still looking to gain match fitness, and they'll be competing with Alan Tate, Matty Collins, Fede Bessone and Albert Serran. In the centre, Williams and Monk look likely to pair up as usual unless we sign someone next week.

Monk also shared his thoughts on today's friendly and the opposition, Kilmarnock:

"It`s good to end pre-season against someone that will be similar in style to the English game.

"It should be a good test and a chance to keep the momentum going. In terms of results we have done really well in pre-season and we want to continue that as we build towards Leicester.

"We are looking to prove a point this season because I`m sure a lot of people will be writing us off again after all the departures this summer.

"We know we need to get off to a good start in order to do that so it would be great to keep building some form."

"I don`t really know much about Kilmarnock. I know their striker Kevin Kyle is a bit of a handful but that`s about it.

"They will be coming here to win though and that`s all that really matters. We just need to make sure we are on top of our game so that we can finish pre-season off on a winning note.

"It will be a tough ask but we will be ready. The main thing is that we are in tip-top condition for the Leicester game."

If you're not attending today's game at the Liberty Stadium, you can follow the latest score right here on Vital Swansea. Kick off is at 3pm.

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