‘Proud of the guys’ – Swansea boss hails performance against Barnsley
Swansea manager Russell Martin has expressed his delight with his side’s performance in their 2-0 victory away at Barnsley.
Goals from Olivier Ntcham and Jamie Paterson in the second-half secured a much-needed victory for the Swans. Martin’s men are now four points off the play-off places. They ended a two-game winless run at Oakwell but have won just two away games from eight Championship games.
It was a tough test against a Barnsley side that has won only two league games so far this season.
The Welsh side dominated the game throughout but had to wait until they finally broke the deadlock.
On his side’s victory, Martin said: “I am really pleased and proud of the guys, it was a really dominant and controlled performance.
“There was loads of purpose and loads of patience, but a real understanding of their roles, each other’s roles and the concentration and level of detail.
“We had the discipline to keep the structure and not get frustrated or anxious, it was brilliant to watch.
“I enjoyed the first half, I know it might not have been that exciting for the neutral, but I felt we were putting a lot of work into their legs and taking energy out of Barnsley as the half wore on and they got deeper and deeper.
“We had a couple of half chances but the message at half-time was to maintain that level of intensity and detail and concentration.
“They did that brilliantly, the amount of courage they showed – even late in the game at 1-0 up where it can be easy to take the easy option and play percentages – was just outstanding.
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Tough to prepare states Martin
Swansea boss Russell Martin declared it was difficult to figure out how Barnsley would play on Wednesday evening.
The Reds new manager Poya Asbaghi took charge for the first time. The former Sweden U-21 manager’s last club was at Swedish side, IFK Göteborg.
Russell said: “It was hard to know what to expect.
“We had watched the manager’s Gothenburg teams and we watched their game on Saturday.
“They had good moments against Fulham, more than they had tonight I felt.
“They were really hard to break down, they have clearly done a lot work out of possession in particular and they stuck at it and worked hard.
“We limited any scary moments by being so disciplined, they had a couple of moments early in the second half where they pressed high and the crowd got energy, but there were not many of the game.
“That allowed us to stay focused and concentrated, I was pleased the goal came and it opened up a bit after that.”
Swansea face Reading at home on Saturday. Sitting 9th, they’ll be looking to close the gap to the top six places.
Martin will hope his side can now build on the victory at Oakwell. They’ve only lost once at the Liberty this season as they look to make it a fortress.
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