De Vries up for the fight to KO rivals

Mar 18 2008 by Phil Blanche, Western Mail

DUTCH goalkeeper Dorus de Vries loves nothing more than a good fight back home.

So it’s little wonder he’s backing Swansea City to bounce back off the ropes and land the knockout shots which will take them all the way to the Championship.

The Swans have taken few standing counts this season en route to the League One summit but Saturday’s 4-2 defeat at Northampton certainly scrambled a few minds.

“It wasn’t good enough,” declared Swansea keeper de Vries, who was totally blameless for the Sixfields shocker.

“You think, ‘Oh my God, where is this going?’ We didn’t cope with crosses or close players down and we were lucky we didn’t concede six or seven goals.

“But It was a freak accident which happens once or twice during a season.

“The way I look at it (the season) is that we are in a 12-round fight and we are in the 10th or 11th round now.

“We are not going to win every round, but we have to make sure now that we throw a couple of good punches and stay ahead on points.”

The boxing analogy comes easy to de Vries, who admits he is an ardent fan of cage-fighting in his native Netherlands.

Having owned up to giving his colleagues some “bad words” on Saturday, it seems Swansea’s defenders have extra reason to tread carefully at Bristol Rovers tonight.

“I am a boxing fan but I’m more into the cage-fighting – the meaner stuff. Free-fighting, that’s a bit harder,” revealed de Vries.

“I watch it on TV and DVD here and I go to big tournaments at the Amsterdam Arena in the summer.

“It’s massive in Holland and I like it – I think I would go absolutely berserk in the ring.

“Where I grew up so many have ended up fighting all over the world, and I like the aggression and the adrenalin.”

De Vries is preaching a back-to-basics policy tonight as Swansea aim to end a mini-slump which has seen a once healthy 14-point lead at the top cut to a nervy six.

But there is more defensive woe with the injury-plagued Marcos Painter set for another three-week spell on the sidelines and skipper Garry Monk still ruled out with back trouble.

Kevin Austin will deputise at left-back and Swans boss Roberto Martinez will monitor fitness bulletins on Painter and Monk over the next few days before deciding whether to dip into the loan market.

Before then, Swansea must contend with the difficult Memorial Stadium surface – the ground Rovers share with Bristol RFC.

The original game in December fell foul of the weather and Martinez admits the Rovers’ players familiarity with the surface hands them an advantage.

“It’s quite bobbly and it is difficult to get the ball down and play in central areas,” said Martinez, who made a spying mission there last Wednesday to see Rovers draw 1-1 with Northampton.

“I would say it gives them an advantage in that they know what to expect straight away.

“But if you see Bristol Rovers away from home they love to get the ball down and play as well.”

Despite his concerns over the pitch, however, Martinez insists his players have the ability to handle the conditions.

“The reality of League One football is if you want to be successful in this league you have to adapt,” he said.

“We’ve done that many times this season – the Luton pitch was a clear example of that – and it has been one of the keys of our success.”