Swansea City (A) | Foster's Preview

With the transfer window now closed, Argyle manager Ian Foster is happy to now concentrate on football – and there is plenty of it in February.

The Greens’ trip to Swansea City this weekend starts a run of seven games in 22 days in the month. A busy time, for sure, but Foster is hoping to build on the unbeaten start he has had in four matches in charge of Argyle, and is pleased with the make-up of his squad following a very busy January in terms of changes in personnel.

“I think we've had a really positive January window,” said Foster. “We're really pleased with the business we've done.

“It’ll be nice for us all to just settle down and really assess what we've got and where we go. It's been a quite chaotic start to my Argyle journey, with all the comings and goings.

“The boys have reacted brilliantly and welcomed the new players into the club, and that's testament to the culture and environment that was already in place when I arrived. We want that to become stronger, get a real togetherness about the group.

“In terms of the playing style and the principles that I want us to play with, they've been brilliant, and the fact that we can see them implement it now on the grass, in matches when they're under pressure, is really pleasing.

“We've had a bright start. We've got loads and loads of work to do; we’re by no means the finished article and will never be the finished article. There's always work to be done, we've got to continue to do that.

“We've got to continue to make steps forward. We know it's not going to be a linear process. We know it's going to be quite turbulent, but that's the journey we're on - and we look forward to it and embrace it.

“The results that we've had so far have been quite positive. Long may that continue.”

Swansea are on the same number of points as Argyle, sitting two places below the Pilgrims because of goal difference, and having played a game more than Foster’s side.

After wins against West Bromwich Albion in the Sky Bet Championship, and against Morecambe in the Emirates FA Cup, Swansea drew 2-2 at Birmingham City and lost 3-1 at home to Southampton in the league. A 5-0 loss at Bournemouth followed, then the Swans lost 3-1 at league leaders Leicester City on Tuesday night.

“It's not been easy to really assess Swansea given the variance in games that they've had,” said Foster. “From the FA Cup game against Morecambe to Premier League opposition against Bournemouth, they've had some really tough and challenging games of late where they've flitted between formations, which doesn't help when you're trying to watch them.

“We know the players. The manager (Luke Williams) has got excellent pedigree in terms of how he sets his teams up and plays. We know that it's a difficult place to go. Saturday will be a really challenging game, with both teams desperate to get all three points.

“They've had an incredibly tough run of fixtures: Birmingham away, Southampton at home, Bournemouth away, Leicester away.

“Their results might not suggest that it's going well, but it’s a tough run of games that they've had, so we are under no illusion how difficult the game will be on Saturday. If we are not at it, then we'll find ourselves in big trouble.”