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Wolves vs Swansea: We are not the underdogs, insists Carlos Carvalhal

Swansea City boss Carlos Carvalhal believes Wolves belong in the Premier League – but insists the Swans are not underdogs at Molineux tomorrow.

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While Wolves have enjoyed a memorable campaign to sit 12 points clear at the top of the Championship ahead of this weekend’s break for the third round of the FA Cup, Swansea have slumped to the bottom of the Premier League.

The two clubs’ summer recruitment could not have been more different either, with Wolves breaking their transfer record to sign Ruben Neves for £15million – as well as bringing in a host of top talent such as Diogo Jota and Willy Boly – while Swansea lost key men Gylfi Sigurdsson, Fernando Llorente and Jack Cork.

“Wolves is not a typical club from the Championship, in my time in the Championship they were the best team I saw,” Carvalhal said. “I believe they would be competitive in the Premier League.

“They have players who played often in the Portuguese top flight in the first team.

“Diogo Jota was at Atletico Madrid, others have played for Benfica and Monaco so the players do not belong to the Championship. The correct place for these players is the Premier League, but I don’t agree that they are favourites.

“I think it is 50-50 like all the teams that go away from home to a Championship club as the tempo is higher, the players run more and it makes it difficult.”

After losing the likes of Sigurdsson, the Swans have failed to adequately strengthen their playing resources. And talks are ongoing between Carvalhal and chairman Huw Jenkins about what money there is to spend in January.

“It is not an easy situation in this moment for us about money, the market and the situation we have in the competition,” Carvalhal said. “Not all players would come to a team that’s fighting like us to stay in the competition.

“I talked with the chairman and we will have another conversation after Saturday once other players are involved.

“The first conversation was OK, we need cover in positions, the chairman knows this and we must check players.

“I don’t deal with money, if I see a player I like I will say to the chairman and I will analyse if he’s good or not.

“But don’t ask me if the players will be worth £10, £20 or £20 million because it’s not my job, and I prefer it like that.

“I am a person for the football and I talk about players.”

And Carvalhal evoked memories of Eric Cantona’s famous ‘when the seagulls follow the trawler’ address in 1995 when he compared Swansea’s forthcoming transfer activity to buying fish.

“We have money for sardines and I’m thinking lobster,” Carvalhal said. “I will do my best to try and bring in the best players.

“I will look to the lobsters and sea bass, but if not we must buy sardines.

“But sometimes the sardines can win games.

“We can change to a different level sometimes. It’s not a question of money – it’s a question of opportunity and the quality of the players.”