How Blackpool are preparing to deal with Swansea City's 'unique' style of play

Russell Martin’s side are well known for their dominance of the ball, something Appleton won’t be trying to match.

Instead, the Seasiders will have to pick and choose their moments to press and be clinical in front of goal if and when chances do come their way.

“You can go about it in two ways really and you can change it throughout the game in terms of your attitude,” Appleton told The Gazette.

“We’ve just got to decide – and I say it as if I don’t already know – but we’ve got to decide whether to go all-out press and try and break up the play from their build or look to be more strategic and allow them to have the ball at times.

“The strength Swansea have got, probably more so this year than last year, is if you go and press them too high and too soon they’ve got incredible pace high up the pitch and even the wing-backs are very quick, certainly on their right-hand side.

“It’s about getting the balance right about when to press and when not to do it.”

Swansea had 71 per cent of possession against Blackburn Rovers last week, but found themselves on the wrong end of a 3-0 defeat.

“I think we had something similar the other night and couldn’t score, it was late 60s against Barrow,” Appleton added.

“They can be misleading at times, it depends on what you want, what your philosophy is. I’m sure there are parts of those stats Russ and his team will be delighted with.

“They did get punished last week, Blackburn were clinical having watched the game back.

“But from our point of view, we’re not going to get into a competition where we’re trying to keep the ball as much as them, that’s not what we’re about or how we do it.

“We will pick our moments and have bits of possession throughout the game, but for us the difference is how clinical we can be in front of goal.

“If we can be clinical, we give ourselves a great chance.”

Martin already appears to be under some pressure from Swansea fans after a tough start to the season.

After an opening day draw at newly-promoted Rotherham United, the Swans followed it up with a home thrashing by Blackburn and a penalty shootout defeat to Oxford United in the cup.

Despite this, Appleton knows his Blackpool side are in for a tricky task at Bloomfield Road tomorrow afternoon.

“I’m aware of Russ from his days at MK and mine at Lincoln, so I know how his teams play and how they set up,” he said.

“It’s very difficult at times to get the ball off them if you go about it the wrong way when you start pressing as individuals and start chasing the little overloads in areas of the pitch.

“You’ve got to be smart, cute and pick your moments to press and not get frustrated when you don’t see the ball for large periods of time because you’ve got to think about what happens when the ball gets turned over.

“It’s almost like a game of chess in a way, it’s like a strategy thing. We’re aware of their strengths but we’re also aware there are one or two areas we can hopefully exploit.”