Martin clings to second half display after vote of confidence

Russell Martin hoped that the second half display at Luton was a sign of his team once again finding the spark despite losing 1-0 at Kenilworth Road.

Andy Fisher’s error allowed Carlton Morris to score the only goal of the game in what turned out to be a bad tempered affair with both Martin and the Luton assistant manager sent off towards the end.

It stemmed from what seemed a marginal call against Liam Cullen who thought he had levelled but was flagged offside. Those thin margins it seems are often going against the Swans of late with replays showing it more than likely should have stood.

But in the context of three wins in twenty Martin remains defiant and surprisingly more upbeat than he seemed just a few games ago when to all it looked like the job had become too much.

That perhaps is down to conversations held with those in America about the job he’s doing after speaking about conversation with the likes of Jason Levein and Jake Silverstein in recent days.

Martin said: “I spoke to all the owners in the last two days and they’ve been great and they understand the context. So if you’re talking about pressure, it’s only the same pressure as everyone else. The pressure to be your best. The pressure to try and get the most out of your players.

“That wasn’t pressure. That was care for the team, and that was feeding off the players’ energy. It just didn’t need to be two red cards to be honest.

“It happens every week I think on the touchline. It just happened today at Luton where the touchlines are incredibly close to the pitch and incredibly close together.”