You could forgive Swansea City boss Roberto Martinez for breathing a sigh of relief as the Liberty Stadium club broke a eight game draw streak in emphatic fashion on Saturday.
Jason Scotland’s brace against Burnley handed the Swans a 2-0 win at Turf Moor that has kept the club firmly in touch with the play off places but the nature of the performance against Owen Coyle’s side has impressed the Spaniard and has admitted he knew the much needed win would come as he told the WM, he said “We knew the win would come. For it to come at a place as tough as Turf Moor is credit to the players.”
He added, “Burnley, with the way they are playing, are a big force at this level. And what they have done in the Carling Cup shows that. So to end the run of draws here shows how good a performance it was because I believe Burnley are one of the best sides in this division.”
Building on the good performances this season , Martinez has urged his players to keep on improving but has insisted a top six finish is not in his sights at this stage of the season,”We will keep looking to improve. We are not really looking at the top six now but, once we get in the final third of the season, perhaps we can look at our aims.”
Consolidating league position was always the aim for Swansea’s first season back in the second tier of British football in 24 years but despite Martinez suggesting a top 6 finish is not on the cards the 35 year old is looking to keep on getting better as the Spaniard revelled “We are still trying to consolidate and make sure we stay in this division. But at the same time we want to keep getting better.We started the season without any experience at Championship level. But, with the way the players are gaining it and using it now, we can go a long way.”
Saturday’s visit of high flying Reading should again provide a stern test for Swansea but Martinez is refusing to lose focus and has hinted after playing the top four sides both home and away the club with be giving everything they have got to try and get a second consecutive promotion as he now alludes too “We can’t have too much satisfaction because, when you do, you get hurt. And we can’t take our eye off the ball with a team like Reading to come next week. But we have set standards and we need to keep reaching them. After Reading we have played the top four home and away so we will have the next 18 games to have a proper go at this division.”
