BOO-BOYS LET FLY AT TIRED SWANS
RUSSELL Martin admitted that fatigue got the better of his Swansea players as they laboured to a drab draw with Birmingham.
The visitors dominated the match and Juninho Bacuna, Tahith Chong and Maxime Colin were all guilty of missing gilt-edged chances.
Swansea created very little after a bright opening 15 minutes and Martin laid the blame at a gruelling schedule after long trips to Blackpool and Peterborough recently.
“We had 21 hours on the bus this week, we got back at 3am on Thursday,” said Martin.
“We had a long trip to Blackpool before that and they were two difficult pitches as well. Birmingham played a day before us as well in midweek.
“These are not excuses, they’re facts, and I’m pretty sure that explains it.”
Martin’s men were booed off at the end, which he felt was undeserved.
“It never got going, never sparked and the atmosphere reflected that,” he added. “We didn’t give the fans enough to work off. I’m disappointed that there were boos, but I understand it.”
The hosts lost Jamie Paterson in the warm-up, with Korey Smith drafted in as a lastminute replacement, but they didn’t let that setback affect them.
Hannes Wolf could have given the hosts a sixthminute lead, but tried to pick out Michael Obafemi over shooting.
The visitors took a while to get into their stride, but soon fashioned the best chance of the first half in the 13th minute. Bacuna blazed over from close after being teed up perfectly by Tahith Chong’s clever cutback.
Swansea threatened through Joel Piroe, who had a shot palmed away by Neil Etheridge, before a back-heel flicked effort from Cyrus Christie’s cross was saved.
The visitors wasted another chance five minutes before the break. Onel Hernandez beat his man and fizzed in a cross for Chong, who could only divert the ball over the bar.
Chong did test Fisher ten minutes into the second half, but the Swansea stopper was able to palm away his drive.
Hernandez then cut inside from the left and saw his shot deflected behind, before Chong had another effort diverted past a post.
Fisher was called into action again with 14 minutes left on the clock as he stopped Scott Hogan’s glancing header with a flying catch. Swansea created almost nothing in the second half until Piroe fired straight at Etheridge in the final minute.
Birmingham boss Lee Bowyer was pleased with an improved performance from his men after a poor showing in the 2-0 home defeat to Middlesbrough last Tuesday.
But the former Premier League star was far from happy with the way his men spurned several big chances to claim all three points. “It’s clear to see that we should have won the game,” he said.
“I don’t know how many chances we missed. We missed three from about two yards. And they weren’t halfchances, they were clear-cut chances that are harder to miss than score. We deserved the three points. Tuesday was a bad day at the office, but we got the reaction.”