Swansea City manager Michael Laudrup expects his second season in Premier League management to be a difficult one.
The Dane has guided the Welsh club to an impressive campaign, in which they secured their first major trophy by virtue of their 5-0 League Cup final win over Bradford City in February and have won many plaudits for an expansive style of play.
The Liberty Stadium outfit can wrap up a top-eight finish if they beat Fulham in their final game of the season and West Brom lose to Manchester United, but Laudrup is anticipating a tougher campaign next term.
“It’s impossible to always move forward but sometimes even maintaining the status quo is enough,” He told Yahoo.
“At this club we cannot pretend to think that we are going to win another major trophy next year, or even the year after that because that will be very difficult.
“However, if we’re talking about the Premier League, I think we will have to improve just to stay where we are now.
“It’s a little early to set exact targets because we still have to get new players in but with our idea of the players we want, I think our target should be to try to at least stay mid-table and consolidate ourselves as a Premier league side.
“It will be very, very tough to stay in mid-table because some of the other clubs below us want to invest to improve.”
However, although Laudrup is expecting a tougher challenge next campaign, he is relishing the opportunity to face Cardiff City in the first ever top-flight Welsh derby.
He added: “I’ve heard a lot about the Cardiff and Swansea games. I played in several derbies and other huge games in my playing career so I’m looking forward to experiencing a new one.”
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