Joe – No Room For Sentiment

Joe Allen says there is no room for sentiment as the Swans travel to Wigan today to face their former manager

“Roberto was someone who showed faith in me,” said Allen in tonight’s Evening Post.

“He gave me my first real big chance with a run of games.

“I’ll be eternally grateful to him for that, as will a lot of players who were here when he was.

“But as professionals we’re representing Swansea City and the reality is that we’re competing against every team in this league.

“I don’t think we can let ourselves feel sympathy for any players, teams or managers.

“There will probably be a few twists and turns before the season’s out, so from our point of view we can’t concentrate too much on anyone else.

“We have to focus on our football and picking up points in the league.

“At the start of the year I was striving just to get into this team,” he added.

“To have had the run of games I’ve had in the Premier League has been incredible — so has the faith Brendan’s shown in me.

“I’ve got to make sure I take on that responsibility.

“I’ve got to make sure I keep improving both in training and in games.

“It appears there could be an atmosphere that Wigan find it quite tough to perform in,” added Allen.

“Hopefully we can use that to our advantage.

“Our away form hasn’t been as good as we would have liked. But there’s still time to put that right.

“We have to go in with strong belief that we can go home with all three points.”