Korey: Maintaining home form is key

MIDFIELDER Korey Smith says continuing Swansea’s strong home form is key for progress this season.

Martin’s side have suffered just one league loss in SA1, and have won their last four in a row, against Huddersfield, Cardiff, West Brom and Peterborough.

Smith hammered home the importance of a strong home record. “We’ve been saying for a while now that we want to improve our away form, and that is definitely the case, but you still need to have strong home form,” he said.

“I think you look at the run we have been on at the stadium and you can see we have played with confidence and we have got the rewards for good performances.

“The supporters are right behind us, they know what we are trying to do, they can see where we are trying to get to and they have responded brilliantly to that.

“We are trying to play a style of football that excites them and, if you like, makes them think of the tradition this club has for playing attractive football. Don’t get me wrong, there’s a long way to go, we are not the finished article by a long way, but we are going in the right direction.

“The challenge for us is to keep that going, to keep improving and keep delivering in front of our fans.”

Meanwhile, reports in Mexico state that Jefferson Montero could be deemed surplus to requirements at Queretaro.

Leonardo Ramos’s side finished second from bottom during the opening half of the domestic season, and with the side now taking a three-week break before the second championship starts, Diario de Queretaro reports that former Swans winger Montero may not return, among a host of other names. As in South Wales, fitness problems have plagued Montero in Mexico since he arrived earlier this year. He made just one start in the opening 17 games of the campaign.