Michael Laudrup aware of difficult start in Premier League

Swansea City boss Michael Laudrup has admitted that he is fully aware of the difficulty of his side's opening run of fixtures in their Premier League campaign.

The Swans succumbed to a heavy defeat in their opening-day clash against Manchester United and now face trips to Tottenham Hotspur and West Bromwich Albion in their next two league games.

Laudrup told reporters: "We already knew this is how it would be. I am not complaining about the fixtures. We knew we had to play everybody. It's not like a cup which you can say there are certain teams you would prefer to face.

"We have to play the other 19 teams sooner or later and we knew when we saw Manchester United and Tottenham come out as our first two games and Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal as our first three home games.

"We know it is very difficult but we have to play them all and I think we are confident. We know what we can do."

Meanwhile, Laudrup's side have made an excellent start to their Europa League campaign and hold a 5-1 aggregate lead over Petrolul Ploiesti going into the second leg of their clash.