Paul Clement: Swansea City head coach values rare preparation time

Paul Clement took over as manager in January 2017 when Swansea were bottom of the Premier League

Boss Paul Clement has enjoyed having time to prepare in pre-season after a frantic start to his Swansea career.

The former Bayern Munich assistant took over in January 2017 with Swansea bottom of the Premier League, but steered them to safety.

"It's a very different situation to when I came in last January," he said.

"We played Crystal Palace on my first day at the club, while three days later there was another fixture. There was no time to get to know the players."

Swansea travelled to America in pre-season, where they played Major League Soccer side Philadelphia Union, and second tier clubs Richmond Kickers and North Carolina.

"This trip has proved a very valuable period for me," Clement told the club website.

"It's nice to go away in that environment where the pressure is lower, there's not so much emphasis on winning games but developing.

"The sessions have been hard and the games competitive. We will certainly benefit from it."

Swansea continue their pre-season with a match at Birmingham City on Saturday, 29 July, and begin the new Premier League campaign on 12 August with a trip to Southampton.