Pearson: It’s About Us

But while much will be written ahead of the run-in, Pearson wants his team to focus only on what they can control themselves – their own performances. 

He said: “We’re coming up against a team who have their best-ever points total in the Premier League, so they’ve had another successful season and are a very good side. We’re going to have to play well again, but the emphasis is very much on what we do ourselves. 

“It’s important for us at this stage of the season to be in touch. I think one of the potential problems that we have to deal with, is that people are now looking at it overly optimistically. 

“We have belief in ourselves obviously and back-to-back wins give us better opportunities and probably applies more pressure on other people. 

“We’ve given ourselves a more realistic chance, but ultimately we’ve got to produce results in enough games now. We’ve got seven games and five at home. 

“I’ve said many times that our home form needs to improve. But certainly on the basis of looking at performances recently we’ve increased our chances. We’ve got to continue to stay focused on what we do ourselves and not get carried away with all the speculation and maths that go on elsewhere. 

“There may be speculation surrounding us and our situation, but we have to stay in control of what we do ourselves, and that is preparing for games.” 

While Swansea must do without a number of key players for the fixture, Pearson was delighted to have plenty of players at his disposal for the match. 

He added: “We’ve got almost the entirety of the first team squad available now, which is very good going into the final run-in. It’s very encouraging for us. It’s only Zoumana Bakayogo and Conrad Logan that are dealing with long-term injuries."