By Gareth Vincent
South Wales Evening Post

Swansea City face Dutch football's yo-yo club tonight in the last warm-up for a season when Roberto Martinez's men are determined not to go straight back down.

ADO Den Haag arrive at the Liberty Stadium this evening for a friendly agreed as part of the deal which brought Ferrie Bodde to Swansea last summer.

The game provides a final chance for Martinez's players, runaway champions of League One last term, to prepare for the considerable new challenge that awaits in the Championship.

"We're looking forward to getting the competitive stuff going now," says Swansea's former Den Haag goalkeeper Dorus de Vries.

"We have a tough start at Charlton on Saturday and, when you look at the fixture list, we have tough games pretty much every weekend.

"It's going to be harder than last season because we're playing against clubs with bigger finances, bigger grounds and bigger crowds.

"But it's a challenge we're looking forward to.

"We're all keen to see where we stand as a club in the first few games and we're all desperate to establish ourselves in the Championship."

The challenge for Den Haag, a sister club of sorts to Swansea thanks largely to Liberty associate director John van Zweden, is to cement their place in the Eredivisie following their latest return to Holland's highest level.

ADO, who count the likes of Dick Advocaat and Martin Jol among their former players, have spent the last few seasons bouncing between the top two divisions, and are back in the big time after a surprise success in May's end-of-season play-offs.

"They had some financial troubles last year and did really well to win promotion," de Vries added.

"They have a lot of young, talented guys in the squad and there are also a number of players with plenty of top-level experience.

"It's a respectable squad with a great spirit, and it's good to see them at the highest level because it's a nostalgic club.

"But it's a different way of playing in the top division and I think it will be a hard season for Den Haag."

Swansea's last line of defence spent three seasons at Den Haag before opting to try his luck in British football with Dunfermline in 2006.

Bodde's association with the Hague club is much more lengthy - he joined ADO as a kid and had not played for anyone else until his move to Wales.

The start of their season is still almost three weeks away, but Den Haag are expected to be at full strength this evening after making regular changes in their 3-2 win at Bristol Rovers on Saturday.

They are coached by former player André Wetzel, who took the reins this summer from Wiljan Vloet, who was sacked despite winning promotion.

"After some big financial problems, we are stronger now with a board made up of local people," explained van Zweden, a supporter of both sides in action tonight.

"It is a bit like Swansea six years ago after Tony Petty, and the target for the season is to avoid relegation."