Swans reap rewards of Piroe, Paterson link-up
RUSSELL Martin says Swansea City are reaping the rewards of the training ground work between Joel Piroe and Jamie Paterson after the pair struck in the dramatic 2-1 win over West Brom.
The Swans went behind after just 52 seconds at Swansea.com Stadium as Karlan Grant notched his fifth goal in as many games for Valerien Ismael’s side.
However, the hosts were much improved after the restart and earned all three points thanks to goals from Piroe and Paterson.
It ensured Swansea have claimed back-to-back Championship wins for the first time under the current regime while they have now lost just once in their last eight league encounters.
And Martin hailed the impact of his side’s two top scorers after they both netted in consecutive matches to send the Jack Army home happy for the second time in just four days.
“We joke with Joel all the time that he needs to relax more in front of goal. He has what all the top players have, that mentality, it doesn’t change, he doesn’t feel any anxiety in the box at all,” said the head coach.
“It’s an incredible trait for a young guy to possess. Joel is a guy, to be honest, like all of them, he has no ego, he’s dropped anything that he felt he was and he understands his role in the team incredibly well.
“Pato the same. We spoke about him on Sunday. The first three or four weeks, he’s probably fighting against everything he’s been told to do before.
“The guys, they look to them two guys at the top end of the pitch.
“They’re developing and building on their relationship and connection on the pitch and fortunately for us it’s resulting in chances and goals and hopefully that’ll continue.
“They spend a lot of time working together on the training pitch and it’s paying off.”
Victory lifted Swansea up to 15th in the table, with Martin’s men now just four points behind Coventry City who are fifth.
Grant’s early strike meant Valerien Ismael’s troops became only the second side after Stoke City to score against Martin’s outfit in the league at the Swansea.com Stadium this season.
But Swansea boss Martin hailed the courage shown by his players after they came from behind to win a fixture for the first time since beating Derby County 2-1 in May.
“The way they recovered after a slow start, incredible really,” he added.
“Brave, such a strong mentality, they stuck to the plan and played with a real intensity in the second half especially against a team who are really well organised, aggressive and hard to play against which is why they are so high up in the league.
“I loved the courage the guys played with tonight. I think they’re getting stronger and stronger physically, their connection with each other with what we are trying to bring on the pitch in terms of the identity of the team, we love this group of players and what they’re giving us.”
Meanwhile, Curtis Davies believes Paterson and Swansea are a match made in heaven, and admits he would have loved to see his former team-mate make a return to Derby.
Davies was on punditry duty for Sky Sports on Wednesday night, and watched on as Paterson dazzled against West Brom.
He told Sky Sports: “I’d have liked him back at Derby. He’s able to do the 1% of things a lot of players in this league can’t do.
“He is able to have the bottle to try and find that needle pass, and also execute it. He’s a friend of mine so I am biased, but he’s a top player.”
The 36-year-old added that he believes Paterson and Russell Martin’s style of football are ideally suited to one another.
“I think it was the perfect team for him, with the manager and the way he wants to play,” he added.
“He had a few trials, found himself at Swansea and I think it’s a match made in heaven.”