Swansea City defender Neil Taylor targets home improvement
22nd August
Neil Taylor has revealed one of the Swans' big priorities this season is to turn the Liberty into a fortress once again.
The Swans take on newly-promoted Burnley at the Liberty on Saturday in their first home game of the Barclays Premier League campaign.
With last weekend's memorable 2-1 win at Manchester ensuring the season got off to the perfect start, Taylor insists building up a formidable record on home turf is a big target within the team.
Last season saw the Swans pick up 23 points at the Liberty - the fewest achieved by the club in its three years in the Premier League.
Now Taylor and co aim to dramatically improve that points tally this season, starting against Burnley this Saturday.
"A big part of this season is about making the Liberty a fortress again," said the Wales left-back.
"Last season - at home - just wasn't good enough by our standards. We have spoken as a team about doing a lot better in front of our own fans, because we didn't give them enough to celebrate at the Liberty last season.
"So it's important that we put on a really good performance and secure three points for them, particularly as we underperformed badly against Villarreal in the home friendly before the season kicked off.
"As a group we are really looking forward to playing in front of a packed Liberty again, and hopefully there will be lots to celebrate come Saturday evening."
While the Swans made the perfect start to their Premier League campaign at Old Trafford, Burnley went down 3-1 to Chelsea on Monday night despite an encouraging display.
Sean Dyche's side, runners-up in the Championship last season, took the lead against the Blues at Turf Moor before debutant Diego Costa, Andre Schurrle and Branislav Ivanovic handed the visitors victory.
And Taylor insists the Swans must show the same attitude and performance from last weekend if they are to overcome a spirited Clarets side.
"We couldn't have asked for a much better performance and result last weekend. We worked hard, we looked fit and everything came together," added the 25-year-old.
"The key thing when you go to a place like Old Trafford is that you take your chances when they come. We did it there last year in the cup, and we did it again last weekend.
"You don't get many chances in these types of games, but we were clinical and Ki and Gylfi made the most of their opportunities.
"But Saturday is a different challenge for us - we will be favourites this time after being huge underdogs against Manchester United.
"But we saw on Monday night that Burnley work very hard and they gave Chelsea a tough night.
"We know exactly how it is as a club that has just been promoted into the Premier League and we will be prepared for a team that will work very hard against us."