Russell Martin: We want to finish as high as possible in the league

The Swans return to the Swansea.com Stadium on bank holiday Monday afternoon (3pm) to face a West Bromwich Albion side still with their own aspirations of a top-six finish.

With the play-offs providing a step too far for the Swans this season as their promotion challenge ended last weekend for another season in their 1-1 draw at the MKM Stadium against Hull City, attention now moves on to the final game of the campaign.

Having collected 20 points from the last 24, Martin’s in-form Swans side extended their unbeaten record to eight games in the draw against the Tigers last weekend.

The Swans fought back valiantly to gain a point from going behind to an early Ben Cabango own goal with Luke Cundle’s strike five minutes from the break proving enough to earn a share of the spoils in Humberside. 

However, despite controlling the game, the elusive second goal to secure a win that would have kept the Jack Army’s remote promotion hopes alive failed to come.

Lying in tenth position in the Championship table and with a chance to finish the season on a high, Martin is keen for his side to finish as strongly as possible with a win against the Baggies to provide a perfect tonic to take into the summer break.

“I would like a win and a really good atmosphere. I think it is going to be a big crowd being a bank holiday game. I want to finish the season strongly, so I hope we can put in a performance similar to the ones that the guys have put in over the last eight or nine games,” said Martin.

“The energy has been so good over the last few weeks, and I really want us to continue that to finish as high up as possible in the league. We can finish above them if we beat them. It is not going to be easy, but I don’t think you need any more motivation than that.

“Carlos [Corberan] has done very well since he’s gone there. They are really good at what they do and will pose different problems to the games we’ve had recently. It’s up to us to find the solutions.”

The Swans will continue to be without the midfielder Joe Allen who is serving the last game of a three-match ban, whilst Jay Fulton and Liam Walsh are both still deemed unfit for the visit of the Baggies in an otherwise unchanged squad.

“It’s the same situation as Hull last week. Walshy and Jay will miss out and will be ready now for pre-season. The squad will be pretty much the same other than that, I think,” continued Martin.

“I want us to finish with a win and finish in the top ten. There will be progress made then.

“It will be something to be proud of for the staff and the players. After everything we have gone through and also considering we lost four of our best players from last season. 

“Michael [Obafemi] wasn’t the same player this season, Hannes [Wolf] and Cyrus [Christie] left and Flynn Downes also went. They were some of our top attacking players. 

“For the guys we have got here now to score more goals and gain more points than last season I’m really happy with. It has shown progress and learning. I think we have been adaptable this season without losing what we want in terms of identity and what we want the game to look like and I’m really proud of that.

 “There’s still be a lot of frustration on our part as coaching staff for sure that we didn’t quite manage to finish higher, but we really aren’t too far away.

“Hopefully our league position will reflect that and give people a positive feeling about the club, the team, the players and what we’re doing heading into next season.”

(Lead image: Swansea City FC)