Phil Sumbler
The build up to the Swans return to league action this weekend is in full flow and former Swan Andy Robinson – a regular on SwansTV – says that the Swans have as good a chance as anyone of winning promotion this season.
The Championship table is shaping up to be one of the most hotly contested for many years with the Swans seven points off second place, the same number of points they are in front of Hull in 20th.
The Swans went into the World Cup break on the back of four draws in their last five league games and winless since the 2-0 win over Cardiff City at the Swansea.com stadium at the end of October.
That win gave them six wins from seven games which demonstrates some of the inconsistency we have had in results but ultimately an eighth place position at the moment makes for a good foundation on which to build over the remaining months of the season.
The season will reach its halfway mark next week when the Swans travel to Coventry and two good results between now and then will certainly increase the dreams of promotion this season and Robinson believes that consistency is the key but the Swans are very much in the hunt.
“In the Championship you are a couple of wins from being near the top of the league and a couple of defeats from being down at the bottom, so it’s about consistency,” Robinson told BBC Sport.
“They still need to eradicate some of the errors. If they do that, they’ll have as good a chance as anyone towards the end of the season.
“I have always said it’s going to take more than one season with Russell Martin, it’s going to be a two- or three-year process.
“Swansea have played really well against some of the top sides this season, while in the last four or five games before the break I don’t think they were great but they only lost once, which is a good sign.”
The Swans two home games in December could hold a big key for them – Norwich and Watford both currently occupy top six places and are very much among the favourites for promotion and will both prove to be big challenges for the Swans.
Away trips to Reading and Coventry may – on paper – appear slightly easier but with both sides within two points of the Swans there is nothing to suggest we can go there and win easily although everything to suggest that we can go there and get the points that we desire.
Robinson added “Russell Martin has had time now to make his mark on the group and has brought some of his players in. The squad depth is much better than it was and the experience the younger players have had in the first half of the season will stand them in good stead.
“I have always said it’s going to take more than one season with Russell Martin, it’s going to be a two- or three-year process.”
And process is the phrase with the Swans boss himself always saying that we should ‘trust the process’ – we start on that journey again tomorrow.
