Sydney Swans star Josh Kennedy expects the midfield battle to play a key role in determining the result of Saturday night’s clash against North Melbourne.

The Swans will travel to Etihad Stadium for the first time in 2015 to take on an in form North Melbourne coming off a win against West Coast.

Kennedy said his side is not underrating the talent North possesses through the middle of the ground.

“We look at their midfield and know they have a lot of very good players that can go through there but we think we match up pretty well,” Kennedy said.

“We back our guys that are going to rotate through the midfield and think it is going to be a good battle, one that often can determine the outcome of the game.”

Despite winning the last five games in a row the Swans have not managed to string together a consistent four quarter performance for a number of weeks.

The star midfielder is aware of the importance of ensure his side puts in a strong performance across the whole game.

 “We probably haven’t played a good four quarter effort against Carlton or the Gold Coast but we know we will need to this week against North Melbourne,” he said.

 “The way that they played last week, their intensity around the contest, their tackling pressure was ferocious and it was across the course of the four quarters.”

“We haven’t really done that over the last few weeks and we will need to so that is what we are preparing for to get the win.”

The Swans will have the mid-season bye following Saturday night’s clash against North Melbourne with the potential of a win to make the break a little sweeter.

“It is obviously a lot more enjoyable and I think you really set yourself for these games because you know you have the week off,” Kennedys aid.

“You don’t want to be sitting around for two weeks stewing on a game that could have been or what you could have done.

“It makes it a big game and we want to really set ourselves to be able to go into the bye and relax with a win under our belt.”