Southampton boss Juric admits he won't rotate against Swansea...

Despite two away games next week, SAINTS manager Ivan Juric insisted he will not rotate for the FA Cup third-

round matchup against Swansea City. Juric emphasised that a victory over Championship team Swansea can add

some “joy” to a challenging season in which Saints have only won four games. The Croatian manager has yet to win

at Southampton and lost badly to Brentford 5-0 last weekend. Next week, Southampton will travel to Manchester

United and Nottingham Forest, but Juric acknowledged his only goal is to defeat the Swans.

He said: “I don’t want to rest players. I think I have 17 or 18 players, maybe more, that are competitive and there is

no big difference between one or the other.

“I just want to win the game and think about that and after the game, I will think about Manchester United and

Nottingham Forest.”

Armel Bella-Kotchap is one name who may appear in the side having been named on the bench for successive

Premier League fixtures.

The German defender has not played since a Carabao Cup tie against Swansea’s South Wales rivals Cardiff at the

start of the season.

Asked if Bella-Kotchap will wear a Saints shirt for the second time this season, Juric said: “We will see.

“For us in this moment everything is essential. I have a feeling that everybody cares about the FA Cup.

“I get the impression outside of England that even the major teams are highly interested in the FA Cup, and it’s

crucial for us as well.

“I know the final is something special because they are playing at Wembley and we read some books that explain all

the emotions of the FA Cup.

“I think for us it’s really important. We need some joy, some good games and I think we know how important the FA Cup is.”

Swansea currently sit 12th in the Championship and suffered a 4-0 defeat to Portsmouth in their last away fixture.

Juric feels his side have prepared well to face a possession-focused side but confessed the true test will come tomorrow.

“We watched them (Swansea) a lot,” he explained. “We watched lots of games. We know how they play and the style of playing.

“We work a lot on aggression and ball-stealing this week, so I think we are ready to play against them because they

are difficult to play against. But we work much more on build-up and construction to find the right way to play

football. It’s not just aggression, we like to press of course, but we like even to have the ball.” “There are lots of

players. They are all training well, and I have to make a decision and sometimes I go to one player, sometimes to

another player.” “But at this moment, like I said last time, everybody has to think about Southampton and not about

himself.”

Southampton boss Juric admits he won’t rotate against Swansea