By Paul Jones
Russell Martin has admitted that “anxiety and fear” are undermining Swansea City’s season as the club continue to
struggle.
The Swansea head coach admitted his team’s 1-1 draw at home to lowly Rotherham represented a new low point in
terms of performance.
But Martin insisted his players would dig in and redouble their efforts to stem a season that is in danger of imploding
into a relegation battle after just one win in seven games and only three wins in their last 18.
“It’s a disappointing night for us,” said Martin.
“It’s a point on the board, but I think it summed up where we’re at at the moment. We’re a young team, very low on
confidence, with loads of anxiety – the whole place is filled with anxiety at the moment.
“It’s a really tough moment for us. The players are trying really hard, but we’re nowhere near at our best.
“We went 1-0 up and I thought it would relax us a little bit. We showed a lot more courage to play in the second half
than we did in the first half, which was sticky, untidy.
“Then we conceded a really poor goal and that creates even more anxiety. We just didn’t have any sustained period in
their final third, which is unlike us.
“Anxiety and fear kills creativity, kills confidence, and we weren’t able to get any momentum in the game.
“It’s as poor as we’ve been. The results have been really poor recently, but performances, on the whole, have been good
and I’ve just said to the players they are low on confidence because of the outcome, not the performance.
“We have two options – one is to roll our sleeves up and try and get a spark to get some momentum and confidence
back or the other one is to not. So there’s only one choice for us.”
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Swansea’s Play off Hopes in Tatters as They Face Tough Five-Game Spell Against Promotion Contenders
Swansea now face a tough five-game spell with matches to come against promotion contenders Luton Town,
Middlesbrough and Millwall – all in the play-off places – before difficult local scraps against near neighbours Bristol City
and Cardiff City.
Joel Piroe ended a four-match goal drought to give the hosts the lead three minutes before the break, after Chiedozie
Ogbene had struck the post inside the first minute for Rotherham.
But Republic of Ireland international Ogbene struck a bizarre, improvised equaliser with 52 minutes on the clock with
Swansea unable to recapture the lead.
The point is, arguably, more valuable to Matt Taylor’s Millers, who are now six points above the relegation zone with 12
games to play; Swansea now sit 15th, 10 points outside the top six, with their play-off hopes in tatters.
Rotherham had a late chance to win the game, when Georgie Kelly fired straight at keeper Andy Fisher after a frantic
goalmouth scramble, but it ended end all square, prompting loud boos from the home fans.
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Rotherham manager Matt Taylor said: “It’s nowhere near the boost of three points, but it’s a point in the right direction.
“We tried to take advantage of their lack of confidence and what might have been a difficult night for Swansea.
“We let them into the game just before half-time, which I was so, so frustrated about and then we had some honest
words at half-time – led by the players, first and foremost – and our intent and quality was a lot better in the second
half.
“We have to tell each other the truth sometimes and as much as our structure was okay in that first half, our execution
and quality was too poor to sustain any quality moments.
“We knew that, the players knew that, but they also needed to tell each other. But for a couple of scrambles, we might
have got three points.”
