Garry Monk has seen a pre-season campaign or two in his time in football and he is experienced to know that the results seen in the build up to the new season rarely mean anything when the serious stuff starts.

On Saturday he will enter his second full season in management looking to build on the record breaking form he created last season which saw the Swans end the season in 8th place with 56 points.

And he will start that campaign with a trip to the home of the Champions Chelsea who have come off the back of a pretty poor pre-season by their standards.

In the last few days alone they have been beaten by Arsenal and Fiorentina as they prepare for the defence of the title they won with such ease last time around.

The season was only a bit older when the Swans visited the Bridge last campaign and despite opening the scoring they eventually fell to a 4-2 defeat as Chelsea went top of the table, a position they eventually occupied when the season ended.

But Monk is not thinking that a poor pre-season for the hosts will make his life easier on Saturday “Pre-season doesn’t mean anything.

“Last season I think Manchester United had won every game during pre-season and we went up there and won.

“It’s very difficult to read anything into pre-season. When you come into Premier League games it’s a totally different story.

“We always prepare for the best Chelsea side possible and hopefully we can go up there and put a good performance on.

“We’ve had a good week and we’re looking forward to the game.”

Photo: Action Images

Swansea City Polls