Neil Taylor expects hostile atmosphere in South Wales derby

Swansea City defender Neil Taylor believes that this Sunday's South Wales derby against Cardiff City will be a fiery encounter.

The Swans travel to the Cardiff City Stadium for the Premier League's first ever all-Welsh match, with Michael Laudrup's men ninth in the table.

Taylor believes that this weekend's clash will mirror the hostility of last Sunday's Wear-Tyne derby, where Sunderland secured a late 2-1 win over Newcastle United.

"This is what you play football for, to play in these sort of games," BBC Sport quotes Taylor as saying. "It can be daunting but we as professionals, obviously playing at the highest level, need to be able to deal with that.

"We watched the Sunderland, Newcastle game on Sunday before the West Ham game. That game was really hostile, the ball was bouncing around [with] two teams fighting for the ball and fighting for a win. I think it will probably be quite similar this Sunday."

The Swans currently sit two points above their Welsh rivals.