MARTIN: THAT DISPLAY HAS BEEN COMING

RUSSELL Martin lavished praise on his Swansea City players for the way they managed the occasion in their derby triumph over Cardiff City. Goals from Jamie Paterson, Joel Piroe and Jake Bidwell earned the hosts an emphatic 3-0 triumph in the contest at the Swansea.com Stadium.

It was Swansea’s biggest league triumph since they defeated Millwall by the same scoreline at The Den in April.

And Martin says he felt his side were due a comfortable victory given the way they have progressed under his leadership since August.

“It was an incredible performance. I’m just really proud of the players, the courage they showed, on an occasion like this as well,” he said.

“I feel like it’s been coming, a performance like that. I feel like we’ve been really dominant in games and not quite created enough or, when we have, not quite had the composure and poise to finish it off.

“Today, the guys have handled the occasion brilliantly. We spoke before the game about weathering the storm early on while Cardiff have intensity and aggression.

“After that, I thought we controlled the match in a really good way.

“But the guys managed it brilliantly. They’ve won 3-0, they deserve it, they’ve kept another clean sheet. I’m so proud of them.”

Cardiff were the better of the sides early on, although Swansea’s control of the contest after Paterson’s sweetly struck opener laid the foundations for what turned into a demolition job.

The Bluebirds were restricted to precious little after the restart as Swansea kept their seventh league clean sheet of the campaign, the best tally of any side in the Championship.

Paterson celebrated his opener with the ‘swim away’ gesture, a reference to an incident on Swansea Beach between Swansea and Cardiff supporters in the late 1980s.

Several players and Martin himself also performed the gesture during wild celebrations after the game.

And head coach Martin admits he got caught up in the emotion of derby victory in the aftermath of the contest.

“I got carried away,” he added. “You’ve got to enjoy it. I got told to do it. I enjoyed it and the atmosphere was incredible.”

Jamie Paterson of Swansea City vies for possession with Cardiff’s Curtis Nelson

Picture: Huw Evans Agency