Fer sounds battle cry

Leroy Fer believes mental toughness will be key if Swansea City are to better last season’s 12th-place finish in the Premier League.

The Swans ended the last campaign strongly under Francesco Guidolin having, at one stage, looked in danger of slipping out of the top flight for the first time since winning promotion in 2011.

But a run of six wins from their last 11 saw them finish 10 points clear of the drop and secure a sixth season in the top flight.

Guidolin signed a two-year contract extension over the summer and Fer hopes the Swans can kick on having learnt from last season.

“I saw how tough the Premier League can be when I was with QPR and Norwich,” Fer said.

“But last season when I came to Swansea, there was a big difference for me because we showed a lot of mental strength.

(Nigel Roddis/Getty Images)

“We were 17th when I arrived, but we finished the games against Aston Villa, Norwich and Chelsea winning just 1-0. Arsenal away was another one where we won by one goal.

“That’s something I learned from last year – that you need that mentality to win games. I hope we can show that mental strength again this season.”

Fer got the only goal of the game on the opening weekend as the Swans started the new season with a 1-0 win over newly-promoted Burnley at Turf Moor.

But the Netherlands international won’t be getting carried away when it comes to making predictions.

“I hope we can achieve a top-half finish this year, but in the Premier League you never know,” he said.

“You can’t say at this stage in the season where you are going to finish. You just have to think that in every game you need to be better than the week before.”