Marcos Painter is looking forward to the Championship season

Swansea City defender Marcos Painter says he is fit and ready for the start of the new Championship season.

The ex-Birmingham City full-back flies out to Spain on Tuesday with the rest of the Swansea squad for the club's pre-season tour.

Painter has been recovering after breaking his nose in the 6-0 friendly win over �stersunds FK in Sweden.

"I think everyone is looking forward to the new season," Painter told the club's website.

"I think there is a lot of competition for places this season so it keeps everyone on their toes.

"And there's the prospect of playing against some massive clubs in a great league just one step away from the Premier League. There's all to play for."

The Swans have been impressive in their pre-season build-up so far scoring 18 goals without reply in just 270 minutes of football.

And the Republic of Ireland Under-21 international believes the warm-up games have so far been worthwhile.

"It's been great," Painter added. "It's been good to get back into it.

"When your holidays come to an end you just want to get back into the swing of things and get some exercise, get on the ball and do what you enjoy.

"Sweden was tough having to get up at seven in the morning, now we've got Spain and we have a lot of games out there which is where we'll be looking to work on our match fitness ready for the start of the season."

The Swans begin life in the Championship against Charlton Athletic at the Valley on Saturday, 9 August.