The Swans and Russell Martin answered their critics with a confident and energetic performance to see off Hull City with three unanswered second half goals.
Indeed it’s important to note just how poor the opposition were – probably the worst side at this level I’d personally seen – but you can only beat what’s in front of you and had Swansea been more clinical it could have been a rout.
There was plenty to like about the performance both in and out of possession and that’s proven by the expected goals statistic showing that Martin’s men far outperformed both Hull City and top of the table Sheffield United this week.
It was also refreshing to see the young players like Luke Cundle – who came on as a first half substitute and earned Man of the Match – and Ollie Cooper perform so well. Something that Martin was thrilled with.
He told the press post match: “His (Cundle’s) intelligence, eagerness, willingness and want to show how good he is gets him the goal.
“He’s still getting used to what we do. Luke has been in and around the Premier League but has not played a huge amount of games. He’s had to be patient, and today he showed he’s a player to be excited about.
“He’s really technically gifted, so we’re grateful that we have a good relationship with people at Wolves, myself and Josh [Marsh], and that they’ve agreed to send him here because of the style and how much it fits him. Him and Ollie were fantastic.”
Overall, the Swans boss was pleased and will now look to the West Brom game after the international break to keep up the improved form of 7 points from the last 4 games.
โIn and out of possession, the way we pressed even when we went in front was really impressive.
โIt would have been so easy when we went in front to just sit back and settle and change a bit, but we did not do that, we were relentless.
โThat is a word we have spoken about a lot, in terms of being relentless in our approach in how we do things and we were certainly that today.
โI am proud of the players and I am pleased for them. If I am being picky we should have scored more goals, as we should have in the last three or four games, so that is something we need to work on and do better.”