Swallows FC Ceo Sipho Xulu insists the Soweto giants are back to their rightful place as one of the major teams in the DStv Premiership.
The Beautiful Birds already have claimed a statement win this season over rivals Orlando Pirates in the MTN8 Cup.
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Xulu now confidently claims that Swallows are back to where they belong, competing for honours in the top-flight.
"It's not gonna be a walk in the park," Xulu tells snl24.com/kickoff. But we're preparing for any war that we will come across.
"Swallows have never been a small team. Even in our days in the ABC Motsepe League, we were a big team.
"I don't think our past relegation has taken anything away from the club's status. Even against Pirates, we won against our peers."
Xulu added that the club had even higher objectives for this campaign and looked to compete.
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"We are on the same level as Pirates. So there's no way we can celebrate as if we've won a World Cup because we beat Pirates.
"We have beaten a team who are on our level. If we play Pirates, it's a derby that is well-known because of the level of both teams.
"If you check from 2014 what we lost when we were demoted if you check Swallows and Pirates, between our relegation and now, both of us have won one cup each.
"So there's nothing that shows we were away because we can equal Pirates in terms of cups won within this period.
Yes, we disappeared, but in our coming back, we made a statement. We are here to compete and not just adding to the numbers."
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