Swansea boss Martin gives brutal assessment following surprise loss
Russell Martin believes his Swansea ide were simply too tired as they came up short in their fixture against Birmingham.
Swansea’s trip to St Andrew’s ended in defeat as a late strike from Riley McGree saw the game finish 2-1 for the hosts. On the back of two wins, Swansea will have been hopeful they could have extended their run of form against a side without a win in seven.
However it wasn’t to be, and manager Martin blamed fatigue as the reason why.
Speaking to WalesOnline, he said: “We were tired, there’s no doubt about it.
“We lacked the intensity that we had in the previous two games.
“I thought we had a lot of control in the first half without really threatening, I don’t think they threatened at all either, really.
“It’s been physically and emotionally a really tough week.”
The result was just Swansea’s second loss in nine matches, and having earned a hard-fought win against promotion-pushing West Brom it seemed like things were on the up.
But Martin believes that time caught up with his players, and that they couldn’t match the energy of their opponents.
“They looked dangerous, they looked a threat and it was just energy, we couldn’t match that energy, people taking too many touches and some of the decision making and detail wasn’t right because we were tired.
“It was one game too many, probably, for too many of the players.”
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Martin pleased as new striker gets off the mark
One positive for the Swans was new signing Michael Obafemi securing his first goal for the club.
Having joined from Southampton in the summer, Obafemi had failed to score in his first three appearances.
However, now he has his first goal Martin is hopeful he can kick on for the rest of the season.
“I’m really pleased for him. For Michael, that’s testament to the hard work he’s put in this week.
“He’s worked really hard to get himself fully fit which is where we need him to be. And I thought he had a real impact when he came on.
“Hopefully that will relax him a little bit and he can settle into his stride. He’ll be very good for us.”
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