Swans still have plenty of targets to hit – Gill
MATT Gill says Swansea City are continuing to achieve targets set out earlier on in the campaign as they bid to end the final stages of the 2021/22 season strongly.
The Swans have edged within striking distance of the Championship’s top half having collected 10 points from the last 12 on offer. They are hopeful of sealing three wins in the same week for the first time under the current regime on Saturday when they host Derby County.
And while a late run for the playoffs appears extremely unlikely, technical development coach Gill says a lot rides on the final seven games of the campaign.
“There’s still a long way to go in this season. There’s certain targets we set ourselves with 16 games to go,” he said. “Three clean sheets on the spin was one of those. There’s a number of targets we chalked off the other night.
“We’ll take every game as importantly as we should. I’m looking forward to this last period and seeing whether the team can continue the performance levels and the results that go along with it.”
The Swans made the most of the celebrations that came after the historic 4-0 thrashing of Cardiff City last weekend. And Gill has revealed head coach Russell Martin was pivotal in ensuring the Swans delivered a fine display at Millwall just three days after annihilating rivals Cardiff.
“It was brilliant. The whole day was outstanding,” said Gill. “The enjoyment everyone had, we celebrated as well as we could have done with the game on the Tuesday.
“All of the staff got together afterwards which was nice and had a few beers which was good. You need to recognise those moments. Everyone works so hard throughout the jampacked season. It was nice to have a moment as staff and enjoy the day.
“The manager got the tone really right. He accepted that they’d achieved history which is important to acknowledge. The most important thing was that they backed it up with a really good performance. Good teams churn out results. It’s not just one win on a Saturday, in this league especially.
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“The lads did that brilliantly. That’s the biggest thing we’ll take, we backed up a really emotional win on Saturday with a professional performance on the Tuesday. We hope to do the same again tomorrow.”
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Swansea are bidding to seal three wins on the bounce this weekend for the first time this season as they host Derby County. The Swans are also on track to keep four consecutive league clean sheets for the first time since 2010, having shutout Millwall, Cardiff City and Birmingham City in their three most recent outings.
They will make a late call on the availability of midfielder Flynn Downes who missed the 1-0 triumph over Millwall due to injury.
“Flynn was on the grass for a period today. Whether he’s involved tomorrow we’ll have to wait and see,” added Gill. “It’s a knock on his knee he got in the Cardiff game. Other than that, everyone’s fit and healthy.”