SHAUN MacDonald always knew Garry Monk could handle the heat of football management – but would have no qualms about nudging the Swansea boss closer to the exit.

Wales international MacDonald heads back to his hometown club tomorrow (3pm) with Cherries in desperate need of points to escape the Premier League’s bottom three.

But on the back of a top-eight finish last season, the pressure is also mounting on 36-year-old Swans legend Monk with City just five points ahead in 14th.

And while MacDonald wishes his old colleague well, he insists there can be no room for sentiment with such a precious yield at stake at the Liberty Stadium.

MacDonald told the Daily Echo: “As a player, Garry was my captain for quite a while. Everybody looked up to him, he was quite a loud leader, always motivated and committed to the things he wanted to do.

“I always saw him becoming a manager, maybe not as early as he has because he was still involved as a player when I was there.

“He would always encourage the younger lads coming through, even though he had a few setbacks in his career. He could have gone off the rails but didn’t, he was 100 per cent professional.

“Coming back from injury can be tough, mentally and physically, and personally, I remember him coming through every problem even stronger.”

Asked whether he would feel bad about heaping on the misery, MacDonald said: “I don’t think you can have any guilt in football. This is the club I am at and the one I want to be successful with so for me, we have to go there looking to get three points.”

But while he is no mood to show Monk any mercy, MacDonald does think he will be given time to get it right.

“They are going through a bit of a tough patch and there is probably a bit of pressure on the manager,” he added.

“There are a lot of rumours in football but I don’t think they would have put him in charge if they didn’t believe in him. They had a good season last season and that probably hasn’t helped with this bad run of results.”

MacDonald was highly rated having emerged through City’s ranks but only made 25 league appearances for Swansea – 15 as a substitute – during six years as a professional.

“I didn’t play as much as I wanted to but the (club’s) rapid rise stopped me playing as much as I should have,” MacDonald said.

“To be honest, what happened in the past has probably made me the player and person I am. I try not to regret anything, look to the future and hopefully, that future can be here.”