The relief is clear for Martin as Swans pull away from drop zone

It’s been a hard winter and I’m not just talking about the weather in South Wales.

But despite the rain continuing to hammer down on these wet March evenings the signs look slightly more positive on the football front after Sunday’s comfortable 2-0 win over Bristol City.

It wasn’t without its concerns, notably a reasonable penalty appeal against Ben Cabango, but nobody could argue that we needed the points more than they did. And that’s what we got.

And nobody will feel more relief than Russell Martin who has rightly come under considerable pressure of late but should take this moment to relax a little ahead of the trip to Cardiff City after the international break.

Martin said: “A lot of pride and a lot of gratitude for the way the players played. I think Tuesday (against Millwall), although we lost, was really good for us in terms of performance.

“I think the lads rose in confidence after Tuesday and we have been building for the last few weeks.

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We’re back to where we want to be and today we got what we deserved. I think it would have been much more difficult over the next couple of weeks, if we didn’t win today, with the game that we have next.

“So I am really pleased that they were able to perform with that courage and intensity, the desire to win. I think it will be so important for us moving forward.

“We limited them to very little. They score an offside goal at the end. It’s the most pleasing thing for us, how brave the line was at that point.

The players are fighting, they’re working so hard. The most important thing is they are showing real belief in what they are doing and courage to carry it out.

“We’re not going to get carried away with one win, we need to build on that now. But I think it gives us a real positive place to build from.”