Garry Monk believes Swansea City can continue to trouble opposition defenders despite the departure of Wilfried Bony and has set his sights on a Premier League scalp against Chelsea.
Ivory Coast international Bony completed a 35 million Euros move to Manchester City on Wednesday, leaving a huge void at the Liberty Stadium, where he scored 34 goals in 70 appearances in all competitions.
But Monk insists he is not in a hurry to spend the Bony proceeds on a replacement striker, with Bafetimbi Gomis hungry for a first-team run and Nelson Oliveira having arrived on loan from Benfica.
“I’m not looking for a striker,” he told reporters. “Bafe has the shirt and it’s his to lose. I have no reservations he will produce for us.
“We brought in Gomis and Nelson Oliveira, but Bafe is my number one striker and, going forward, we’re looking for both of them to contribute.
“They understand how we work and they are up to speed and hopefully they get a chance to produce. I’m sure they’ll do very well.
“Bafe is a different player, a different striker, but a top quality one in his own right. He’s proven that throughout his career and to myself, even if he hasn’t had game time he would have liked.
“He’ll show in coming games the qualities he has.”
Such is Monk’s confidence in his current striking options, he has backed his men to defeat league leaders Chelsea on Saturday.
“You have chances in every game to score goals,” he added. “I don’t care if it’s 1-0 or 7-0, the points are the main thing.
“We create numerous chances in every game, they [sometimes] warrant more goals, but as long as we’re gathering the points, that’s the main thing.”
Chelsea claimed a 4-2 victory when the two sides met at Stamford Bridge in September and hold a slender two-point lead over Manchester City at the top of the Premier League.
Swansea, meanwhile, are ninth, but will be eager to halt their run of three league matches without a win.
Monk remains without Jefferson Montero (hamstring), Jonjo Shelvey (suspended) and Ki Sung-Yueng, who is with South Korea at the Asian Cup, but has an otherwise fully fit squad to choose from.
Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho is also spoilt for choice and could reintroduce Thibaut Courtois after the Belgium goalkeeper spent last weekend’s clash with Newcastle on the bench with a finger injury.
The Blues’ last five away trips in the league have yielded just one win, but Chelsea have never lost to Swansea in the Premier League.
