By Gareth Vincent
South Wales Evening Post

Leon Britton has picked the brains of one of the players who has crossed the derby divide ahead of Swansea City's clash with Cardiff.

Striker John Williams had three spells at Vetch Field between 1991 and 2003 and also spent 1998-9 playing for Cardiff.

Britton played with Williams in his early days as a Swan and has been in touch with the Flying Postman ahead of tonight's Carling Cup encounter.

"I spoke to John the other day and I was asking him about the games," the midfielder said.

"He just told me that you cannot imagine what it is like.

"He said that I won't believe what it's like and I cannot wait to experience it after waiting so long to be involved in one of these games.

"I didn't ask John who he'd be supporting, but I've got a sneaky feeling he will be backing us."

Britton admits he will be "gutted" if Roberto Martinez persists with his Carling Cup rotation policy and denies him the chance to face the Bluebirds.

The former West Ham youngster's only previous derby experience has come watching games on television.

"The atmosphere's going to be electric. It will make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up, and we all want to be part of that," he added.

But Britton concedes that cool heads may be key if Swansea are to topple their nearest rivals.

"You have got to keep calm as a player and not take too much notice of everything that's going on," he said.

"You have to focus on what's happening on the pitch, not off it, because otherwise you will not perform. You have got to keep composure and not let things boil over. We need 11 players on the pitch if we're going to win the game."

Britton revealed Swansea's players have received constant reminders of what tonight's game means.

"Every time I've been to buy a paper lately people have been saying 'make sure you beat Cardiff'," he added.

"If we lose I'll have to get someone else to go and get the local papers, the bread and the milk, but I don't think it will come to that."