Last updated on .From the section Football

"He’s been brilliant for the British game"

Swansea City manager Paul Clement says Arsenal are ideal first opponents for his debut as a Premier League boss because he was already scouting them.

"I was at Arsenal on Boxing Day as a Bayern member of staff watching them play, so I have my notes," he said.

"Hopefully we take advantage."

Clement says he does not think he needs to update his observations.

"We would have been due to play them in the Champions League with Bayern. I'll be using the notes for Swansea instead of Bayern," he said.

"The notes are the same, just looking what they do and hopefully take advantage and I'll send (Bayern boss) Carlo (Ancelotti) a photocopy."

Rebuilding a fragile squad

"We want to keep our best players"

Clement believes it will be important to create stability at Swansea as he settles in as their third boss of a torrid season.

"I am their third coach of the season and they have come off some really tough results, so confidence is low and we need to get that back up," Clement explained.

"The best way to do that is to be well-prepared. How do you get someone feeling more confident? By making sure they are as well-prepared as possible.

"I will go into a game satisfied if I know I have done everything I can to prepare the team.

"If I arrive at a game feeling I have not prepared as well as I can I will not feel so confident.

"That is my objective, to get to 3:00pm on Saturday knowing I have done everything I can.

"That might mean not giving the players too much info, just the right amount."

Starting in defence

Clement is looking for a quick response from the players and believes Swansea must focus on fixing their defence.

"Defensive work is important because it gives you a foundation," said Clement.

"If you're difficult to beat it gives you a much better chance of winning games.

"I'm not a coach who would particularly enjoy 4-3 and 5-4 wins.

"When I coached at Derby, particularly up to the half-way point of 23 games, we had an outstanding defensive record."