sport

Rodgers brushes off Mancini talk

Swansea boss Brendan Rodgers has described Roberto Mancini's recent comments about his team as "tongue in cheek".

Manchester United, without the injured Danny Welbeck and Jonny Evans, will host the Swans at Old Trafford in the Premier League on Sunday as they look to bounce back from their derby disappointment.

Manchester City boss Mancini had suggested that United's remaining games against the Swans and Sunderland would be "easy".

But Rodgers says the Italian should be more than aware of his side's qualities after they beat City 1-0 in March.

He said: "What Roberto said was probably a bit tongue in cheek in fairness.

"I think what we have shown over the course of the season is our competitive nature.

"We might be a way down the scale in terms of many things at this level, but one thing that's guaranteed is that when you play Swansea City, it's going to be a competitive game and a difficult game.

"I'm sure Roberto knows that."

United boss Sir Alex Ferguson was full of praise for the Swans in his pre-match press conference on Thursday.

He is not taking them for granted and believes the Premier League's first Welsh representatives have a candidate for manager of the year in Rodgers.

"We don't have easy games," Ferguson said. "If you go to Sunderland on the last game of the season, with the support they have and the manager they have got, you don't expect an easy game, and the way Swansea have played this season has been admirable.

"They have played some fantastic attacking football. Their manager has insisted on that and stuck by his principles.

"They have had a fantastic season. They look as if they are enjoying their game. They all want the ball and want to play.

"When you talk about how you pick manager of the year, there always has to be a consideration about the resources.

"Brendan Rodgers came out of the Championship and only brought two players in, Danny Graham from Watford and Gylfi Sigurdsson from Germany, and even that was not for a big financial outlay.

"He stuck by the players who got them into the Premier League and they have rewarded him."

Update:

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