Swansea's Premier League fate defined by three games - Curtis

Alberto Paloschi scored his first Swansea goal to put them ahead against Tottenham

Swansea's Premier League survival hopes will rest on games against their fellow strugglers, not title challengers such as Tottenham and next opponents Arsenal, says coach Alan Curtis.

Swansea lost at Spurs on Sunday to stay three points above the relegation zone.

They visit third-placed Arsenal on Wednesday but then face three of their relegation rivals in successive games.

"Our season is going to be defined by playing Norwich, Bournemouth and then Aston Villa," said Curtis.

"Three massive games for the club. [But] the games become much easier if you can pick up points preceding that."

Alberto Paloschi gave Swansea the lead against Tottenham, but the visitors then had to withstand severe pressure as the match wore on.

Spurs had 34 shots as they came from behind to win and move within two points of Premier League leaders Leicester.

Alan Curtis was Swansea's interim manager before Francesco Guidolin was named head coach in January

Swansea's defeat kept them 16th in the table, though results went their way on Saturday with Norwich, Sunderland and Aston Villa all losing.

However, Curtis pointed out that Swansea cannot rely on others to keep slipping up.

"It wasn't actually a bad weekend for us," he added. "If teams can do you a favour that's great but the important thing is how we perform.

"We still feel if we perform as stubbornly as we did away from home at Tottenham, against some of the bigger teams, we're capable of picking up the points and getting ourselves out of trouble."