NATHAN Dyer is savouring the prospect of seeing himself on Match of the Day this season as his long wait for Premier League football comes to an end on Monday night.

The Trowbridge winger, who helped Swansea City become Wales’ first Premier League side when they defeated Reading 4-2 in the Championship play-off final at Wembley in May, is set for his debut in English top-flight football as his side travel to big-spending Manchester City for their opening game of the season.

The 23-year-old was on the fringes of Southampton’s first team squad under the Premier League tenures of both Gordon Strachan and Harry Redknapp as a teenager several years ago, but never got the chance to test himself against the best in the country.

However, that dream is poised to be realised in front of the Sky Sports cameras at City’s Eastlands stadium as the Swans embark on their fairytale campaign.

“The club is buzzing because everyone wants to be in the Premier League,” Dyer told the Wiltshire Times this week. “There is so much excitement about it. We’ve been waiting for this since the end the play-off final, seeing yourself on Match of the Day on a Saturday and things like that.

“It’s the best league in the world. Playing in the Championship you played against people who had played Premier League football but this is different, doing it every week.

“The whole squad just cannot wait to start. Most of us have played at a few of the grounds in the Premier League before.

“But places like Old Trafford and Anfield will be new for a lot of us.’’

Dyer, a former pupil at St Laurence School in Bradford on Avon, was voted supporters’ player of the year at the Liberty Stadium last season.

He admits the trip to face Manchester City is a daunting start for his side, but added: “It’s a great occasion for us. People tipped us to get relegated from the Championship for two years in a row and we finished sixth and seventh.

“In that way, we have no pressure except what we want from ourselves. We’ll be the underdogs all the time.

“It was a massive achievement for us to get into the Premier League, especially as Cardiff were the Welsh team that were expected to do it before us.’’

The Wiltshire player’s progress will again be followed by mum Jenny, who runs Contrast Hair Studio on Frome Road in Trowbridge, and travels to every Swansea home game with husband Jonah and daughter Yasmin.

He added: “People thought we were the best footballing side in the Championship and now we have the chance to test our football against the best teams in the country.’’

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