CITY ARE A GOOD FIT NOW

MATT GRIMES is confident Swansea are finally ready to cope with the demands of boss Russell Martin.

The City skipper admits his team-mates were running on empty at times last season as Martin, who took charge on the eve of the campaign, attempted to impose a different playing style.

But 12 months on Grimes believes they are ready to push on and improve on last season’s 15th place finish. The midfielder (above) said: “I feel like we struggled last year to keep the intensity up with the way manager wants to play. There’s a lot of physical and tactical detail.

“We weren’t unfit, just not used to or conditioned to play this way. This time we have had five or six weeks to build that, and it will stand us in good stead.

“We weren’t ready for a full season last year, we showed in moments and in certain games we could do it, but often in the third game in a week we would struggle as we wouldn’t have the energy levels to go again.

“I think we’re better equipped this time.”

City start their campaign today at newly-promoted Rotherham and Millers midfielder Ollie Rathbone is determined not to let last season’s hard work go to waste.

“I got excited when the fixtures came out,” he said. “This is our reward for the hard work we put in last season. We have nothing to fear.”

And Rathbone, who joined on a free in August last year, believes he will reap the benefit of his first experience of boss Paul Warne’s pre-season regime.

He said: “It’s been really challenging, probably the most challenging of my career. But overall it’s been really good.

“I’d heard horrific things but it wasn’t cruel, it was just really hard.”