Martin admits it’s tough for Swans as fans vent their feelings

RUSSELL Martin revealed he has held talks with his players after admitting the anxiety surrounding the club is crippling his Swansea City squad.

The Swans’ frustrating run of results continued as they were held to a 1-1 draw by Rotherham United on Monday night.

Swansea were booed off the pitch at full-time of the clash with the Millers, having also been subjected to jeers after losing 3-1 to Stoke City last week.

Martin said his side didn’t show anywhere near enough in attacking areas against the Yorkshire outfit as their testing run was extended.

“I think we’re disappointed and frustrated with the performance,” he said.

“We’re just a team going through a really tough moment, a bit low on confidence and so much anxiety in our game, the way we started the game summed that up.

“The whole performance just fed off that anxiety really, and anxiety and fear kills creativity and freedom. It makes your legs feel heavy on the pitch. I’ve been there as a player.

“When we finally got a grip on the game and changed shape and scored I thought it would settle everyone down.

“Then, right at the end of the first half, summed up the whole thing really.

“We were in their box, we had a chance to go one-v-one with someone, I think it was Ollie [Cooper] who has been outstanding, he turns back and passes it backwards and there’s even more anxiety with the performance.

“So yeah, not enough courage, but completely understandable with the young guys out there. We concede a rubbish goal and we don’t have any real period of sustained pressure in their final third.

“It comes from recent results. The Stoke game last Tuesday night carried into this performance, really. When we did get in their half we didn’t go anywhere near enough.”

On the jeers from the home supporters, Martin commented: “It doesn’t affect me, but it affects the team. The senior lads, we don’t have many of them, but they said how you react to these types of moments will define you as a footballer because there’s so many tough moments.

“We’ve spoken a lot about it. We’re really honest with each other.

“But speaking about it and overcoming it is really different, so we have to try and help them overcome it. They’re trying their very best, we just need something to spark us back into life and get that confidence back.”

After a fairly uneventful start, Swansea improved in the first half after changing from a back four to a back three which allowed Ryan Manning and Matty Sorinola to operate as wing-backs.

Following that tweak, Manning picked out Joel Piroe who rifled home his 13th goal of the season to put Swansea ahead.

But former transfer target Chiedozie Ogbene ended his own run of 11 games without a goal to earn Matt Taylor’s side a share of the spoils.

Following the draw, Martin admitted too many members of his squad are already looking ahead to the summer.

“We need people to be really all in for the rest of the season because I think we have too many lads who are already focusing on the summer and what’s going to happen with their situation,” he added.

“That’s not conducive to our performance, especially the way we play because you need to be all in to do it.

“The lads in the dressing room spoke about the pride at the identity we have, their belief in what we’re doing and we now really need to show it on the pitch where it matters. It’s affected us recently.

“They have a choice, they’re either really all in or they can come and sit next to us and see what happens.”