Martinez Ready

As stated on Saturday, it is almost certain that Roberto Martinez will today walk away with the ‘cursed’ manager of the month award for October after seeing his side win all five games in the process.

The recipient of the award will be revealed at lunchtime today and whilst Roberto would be happy to place his first on the mantelpiece he insists, not surprisingly, that it is a team game and a reward for all of them.

“Any award or recognition is not just nice for me, but for the players, staff and for the whole of Swansea City,” he told the Western Mail.

“We don’t get many compliments and, of course, it would be nice, but it’s something that doesn’t really take much up of my attention.

“If I do win it then it would be welcomed, but it would mean nothing unless we kick on from our good start and earn promotion.

“It’s important we don’t rest on our laurels and pat ourselves on the back for a good three months.

“You don’t win anything in October, and I don’t need to tell the players that also.

“I believe in consistency in your work and believing in your methods and you get results.

“If you want to be successful you don’t need a winning team, you need a winning squad who are talented and hungry for success.

“The players have been working really hard since pre-season and it would be nice to be recognised with the award.

“If not, then we don’t and we must make sure we continue to work hard.

“There’s still an awful long way to go and we are just focused on our next game at the moment.”

Martinez was also looking forward to the Friday night fixture against Gillingham where his side have the chance to return to the top of the league even if it does prove to be for less than 24 hours

“When you play on Friday night it is a fantastic opportunity to put pressure on the other sides around you ahead of their games the next day,” he added

“If we reach similar levels to what we have been showing of late then I expect the results will follow.

“But we have been facing challenges all season at home and have been forced to go away to pick up the wins, which has been key so far.

“People expect us to just turn up, score goals and win comfortably.

“But football doesn’t work like that.

“It can kick you down when you least expect it so I know how important this game is and we will be aware of what we need to do.”