Russell Martin calls for ‘relentless’ attitude as Swansea win again

Swansea manager Russell Martin challenged his players to be “consistent and relentless” after they notched a fourth successive Championship win with a 2-1 success at home to Sunderland.

Martin saw his side move to three points off the top of the table thanks to first-half goals from Ollie Cooper and Harry Darling.

Jack Clarke replied for Sunderland early in the second half but the hosts held on.

“We still need to improve, but the league is wide open,” said Martin.

“If you’d said after five or six games we’d be sitting where we are now….

“The challenge is to remain consistent and relentless.

“I still feel we should have more points because of the late goals we’ve conceded. But the players have used that frustration to drive them on.”

The Swans were cruising at half-time but a transformed Sunderland side ended up making them work hard for the three points.

But after a week which featured wins away to West Brom and Watford, Russell emphasised the physical and mental demands on his players – and praised the way they have met them.

“I’m immensely proud of the players, the staff and the fans after such a busy week,” said Martin.

“We were probably the only people who believed we were capable of getting nine points from these games at the start of the week.

“And to now win four games on the trot with the young group we have, and after the start we had to the season, it’s no mean feat.

“Sunderland are a really good team with good players who will cause teams problems this season with the energy they have.”

Sunderland boss Tony Mowbray was philosophical about the defeat, insisting his side deserved credit for fighting back in the second half.

He said: “The pleasing thing was we reacted to the adversity of going behind.

“We wanted to go toe-to-toe with them but they got through us too easily in the first half.

“We got no points but we deserve credit for the way we performed in the second half.

“Ultimately with this team, I don’t think anyone is expecting us to go and win every away game in the league. They have come from League One and as long as they believe they are in there fighting against every team and are not outclassed, that’s what matters.

“It’s important to have that feeling about your team, whoever you play you need to think you can get a result.

“We nearly did today, but they are a well-coached team with good players. It is no mistake that they’ve won five out of six.”