Pablo Hernandez: 'Swansea City must stop friend Juan Mata'

Swansea City winger Pablo Hernandez has no doubts that his side need to stop Juan Mata when they meet Chelsea on Wednesday.

The two were teammates at Valencia before the pair moved to the Premier League, and they are now preparing to square off against one another in the semi-finals of the Capital One Cup.

Despite their friendship, Hernandez says that the Swans need to do all they can to prevent Mata from hitting top form.

"Mata is a big friend of mine. He was my roommate at Valencia for two years. We used to eat lunch and dinner together too," said Hernandez.

"He's an important player for Chelsea and won't be easy to stop, but I have confidence in the Swansea defence.

"Chelsea have a lot of big players and we also have to be wary of Fernando Torres and new signing Demba Ba. But Mata is a player we need to stop."

Chelsea host Swansea in the first leg of the Capital One Cup semi-finals on Wednesday night.