Obafemi jeered as he makes his return but Martin sees the positives

Michael Obafemi made his return to first team action yesterday after missing the last two fixtures and received a somewhat mixed reaction.

The Irish international came on for Joel Piroe in the 88th minute to a considerable amount of booing from the East stand in particular but Russell Martin isn’t worried after seeing a committed player in training this week.

Obafemi looked certain to leave for Burnley earlier this month before the transfer window closed but the two clubs couldn’t agree a deal with the Swans looking for an eight figure fee for the former Southampton man.

Martin told the press post match: “It [crowd reaction] was mixed, some were really warm, a couple of people booing. People make what they want of the situation.

“They just want people to come on and work as hard as possible. He did that when he came on and he’s done that this week in training. That’s all we want from him.

“Hopefully he’ll go away with Ireland and do well with them and he’ll come back as the Michael we know and love.

“He’ll be a big part for us, for sure. He’s got some real competition at the minute with Joel Piroe doing what he does. The competition is great for us.”

Earlier this week Ireland boss Stephen Kenny said there were “2 or 3 sides to every story” when discussing Obafemi’s lack of playing time, something which Martin was quick to push back on.