Planet Swans ArchivesMartinez is surprised to have heard grumblings this week with the Swans eight points clear at the top of League One (with a game in hand over second placed Doncaster) having lost just one game in the last nineteen league games – a 1-0 defeat to Millwall last Friday.
There have been calls for immediate moves into the loan market to cover some of the injuries currently in force with, seemingly, almost no player immune from the firing line despite one of the most successful runs of form in club history. “The fans need to stay positive and I think as a football club we have learned that,” he told the Western Mail. “I would be very surprised if people started panicking.
“Results are not just coming for the sake of it, there are reasons behind them. If you can be consistent enough, like we have been in the first 34 games, there’s no reason to be pessimistic.
“It is probably in our nature though. Not just in Swansea, I think it is a Welsh thing.
“We win two games and we all hope for promotion. We lose two games and we all think that we are going to get relegated.
“We just need to be a bit realistic. Look at the team we have got, the way we have played and the results we have got so far and see that now is the time to push forwards."
But he has backed his side to have the right mentality in bouncing back from this defeat and believes that they will do just that against play off chasing Tranmere this evening
“When Manchester United, Chelsea and even Barcelona suffer a defeat, all they want is to get back on the pitch because they know they are going to win.
“That’s what we need to get in our system. If we want to move to the next level we have to have that mentality.
“Yes, we are going to lose games because nobody, with the exception of Arsenal a few years back, goes through a season without losing. It’s very hard to find another example like that in world football.
“As a football club it is a great learning curve. We need to understand that, after a disappointment, there is enough personality and character in the dressing room to bounce back.”
He added: “I understand the mood needs lifting again because sometimes you take things for granted. I have said before, with the way we have played this season and some of the results we have had on the road, people probably get used to them.
“People have to realise that to do that you have to be a really good side. And we are a really good side.
“We had a little blip in terms of the result. But I wouldn’t say it was a blip in terms of the performance.
“Having a game so soon is the perfect opportunity to get Friday out of our system,” he explained.
“We are not used to losing in the league and the boys felt disappointed after the game.
“We need to make sure we get back to our best and get that feeling back.”
