Swansea City will aim to put their first difficult spell of the season to one side as they prepare for three games in a week before the campaign's second international break.

Beaten at home by West Ham United and then embarrassed on their travels at Queens Park Rangers, Swansea return to their own patch to take on Blackburn Rovers this Saturday.

Then comes a trip to Portsmouth next Tuesday before Vitor Matos' team go to Birmingham City the following Saturday.

While the Championship is notoriously difficult to predict, a glance at the form guide suggests nothing will come easy for Swansea.

Though they were tipped by many to struggle this season, Tony Mowbray's Blackburn have won four – and lost just one - of their past six games.

Portsmouth have been defeated only once in their past eight league outings, while Birmingham's 1-0 loss at Cardiff City last weekend ended a five-match unbeaten streak.

Of Swansea's seven league wins so far this season, only one – at Stoke City on the opening weekend – was against a club who currently sit in the top half of the table.

As it stands, Blackburn are 10th, Portsmouth are 11th and Birmingham are seventh.

It promises to be a challenging week, during which Swansea's success – or otherwise – may offer a clue about their prospects for the winter ahead.