New Swansea head coach Vitor Matos says that facing Welsh rivals Wrexham has a “different emotional charge” compared to other matches in the EFL Championship.

The two Welsh teams face each other for the first time in the League this season on Friday evening, with Swansea hosting Wrexham last in 2003.

Despite being over 100 miles apart from each other, the match will hold significance as a meeting between the two highest placed Welsh teams in the English pyramid.

“I think from what I feel from our supporters, I think we can call it a derby, straight on,” said Matos.

“It’s a game with a different emotional charge, but in these games we need that emotion and the passion to drive us forward and that I think that’s quite important.

“For that we need clarity, we need discipline, we need identity and that’s what we will need to focus on our game.

“We need to respect Wrexham. What they’ve done in the recent years, being promoted, and how they are doing this season as well.

“If we look back on the last 10 games, they have only lost one. So I think that deserves, like all teams, our respect and deserves a lot of credit.

“It will be a good game, 100%, and a game that we need to be on our toes to compete, and that’s really important.”

Swansea have attempted to match Wrexham’s high profile off-field publicity, bringing the likes of Luka Modric and Snoop Dogg into the ownership group, buying minority stakes in the club.

While the two clubs’ ownerships battle it out off the pitch, Matos is only concerned about what happens on it.

“It speaks for itself,” Matos said of the Wrexham story.

“I think it’s a story that had a good start and it has grown and to see a team with three consecutive promotions and now in the Championship and competing, I think is impressive and I think that’s what we need to respect as well.

“But we are playing in our stadium with our fans and that needs to mean more.

“I think in the moment that we are, we need this passion and this emotional charge to push us forward and to compete in this game.”

Swansea have won their last two home games against fellow strugglers Oxford United and Portsmouth, but lost last time out at Stoke City.

“We know that, especially for us as a team, our stadium and our fans [being at home] means a lot for us,” Matos added.

“It’s a special place to be, and I believe that the connection between the team and the support is growing and we need to have that connection to become stronger.”

“Every game is good to have after you don’t win because it’s always an opportunity to bounce back and to get to the place you want to be.”

---

Sportin Wales’s coverage of Wales’s World Cup qualifying campaign is proudly sponsored by S4C. You can watch all of Wales’s matches this year for free on S4C and S4C Clic.

If you want to read more pieces from Sportin Wales, why not read to our monthly magazine here or subscribe to the magazine and newsletter at https://sportin.wales/subscribe/.

Our podcast is back for the new season and our co-founder Alex Cuthbert is in charge! You can find all the episodes here or the video versions on our YouTube channel.

You can also keep track of our pieces and videos on our socials at @Sportin_Wales on X or Sportin Wales on Instagram and Facebook.