Joel Piroe insists the goals will soon start flowing for Swansea City, even though he currently seems the only player capable of turning on the tap. The Swans’ 0-0 draw at Derby at the weekend was their fourth goalless draw in 11 Championship games this season. In all, Russell Martin’s side have managed just nine goals, with five of those coming from Piroe, their £1m signing from PSV Eindhoven in the summer.

Russell Martin has praised Wayne Rooney’s management at Derby County and suggested if the England legend was all about ego, he would already have walked away from the crisis club. Swansea City head coach Martin takes his team to the Championship’s bottom club hoping to inflict more misery on the Rams by collecting some much-needed points of their own. Derby sit bottom of the table with a single point after having a 12-point deduction, with a further nine-point deduction still likely.

Mick McCarthy is hoping the return of Cardiff City’s midfield stalwart Joe Ralls can halt the Bluebirds’ sliding autumn from turning into a winter of discontent. The Cardiff manager is pinning his hopes on Ralls’ comeback helping bring an end to their run of four consecutive defeats against Reading on Saturday in the capital. Ralls has been sidelined with an on-going groin strain for the past five matches and is set to return to action the day after celebrating the 10th anniversary of his Championship debut with the club he joined at 17.

By Tom Prosser Russell Martin is delighted that his Swansea side have the joint most clean sheets in the league so far this season and insists he is not going to panic about their concerning defensive record when playing away from home. Swansea have so far let in 11 away goals this season and have conceded three at Preston, Luton and Fulham. “We have the most clean sheets in the league,” explained Martin.

Russell Martin has insisted he was “really proud” of his Swansea City players – even though a 3-1 defeat at Fulham exposed now familiar shortcomings in a season that has yielded just two victories in the first 10 Championship matches. The Swans have 10 points and are back in 19th position after an Aleksandar Mitrovic hat-trick condemned them to a first defeat in five games. Head coach Martin was pleased with the way his team held onto possession and created their own openings, including a well taken goal by Jamie Paterson which brought the scores back to 2-1.

Swansea City head coach Russell Martin hailed Flynn Downes after the midfielder was at the heart of their first home victory of the season. Joel Piroe’s first-half strike was enough to secure a 1-0 victory over Huddersfield to end a run of four games without a win. It was a fourth clean sheet in five games at home for Martin’s men, who crucially found a breakthrough after failing to score in their previous two home matches.

Russell Martin has called on his Swansea City players to be braver after they bowed out of the Carabao Cup following a 2-0 defeat at Brighton. It was a comfortable victory for one of the Premier League’s in-form teams, but Swans head coach Martin was left frustrated by missed chances early on and a lack of ambition after his side fell behind. Martin did claim to have seen a lot of positives, but the fact is his team have now won only three times in their first 11 games this season in all competitions and are winless in their last five.

Former Swansea City manager Graham Potter comes up against his old club for the first time on Wednesday night, convinced Russell Martin can take them back to the Premier League. Potter – who left the Swans to take charge at Brighton two years ago – will be in the Premier League club’s dug-out for their Carabao Cup tie at the Amex Stadium. It is the first reunion with their former boss for the Swans, who have made a poor start to the season in the Championship with just one win in eight matches.

Steve Cooper has been confirmed as Nottingham Forest’s new head coach and is set to bring his former Swansea City sidekick Alan Tate in with him. The former Swansea boss, who left the club at the end of July, replaces Chris Hughton at the City Ground. Hughton paid the price for a poor start to the Championship season, where they took just one point from their opening seven games.

By Alex Bywater James Arthur, James Argent, Calum Best and a host of former Welsh sporting icons will take part in a charity football match on September 26 in memory of fanatical former Swansea fan Mitchell Powell. Dad-of-one Powell tragically passed away in February after he went into cardiac arrest while undergoing double heart valve replacement surgery. He was just 26. Powell was born with a heart condition and had undergone more than 20 operations over the course of his life which led him to becoming a dedicated supporter of the British Heart Foundation.

Russell Martin insists Swansea City can use their astonishing rescue act at Luton Town as a springboard to take them up the Championship table. The Swans head coach heaped praise on his players for the manner in which they came back from 3-0 down at half-time to earn a point in their 3-3 draw. It still leaves the club just above the relegation zone on goal difference, but Martin insists the recovery suggests improvements are on the way if they can keep their best players on the field.

Russell Martin insists Swansea City have a natural goalscorer in Joel Piroe and that goals will flow once the Dutchman adjusts to the Championship. Martin saw his Swans team fail to score for the second successive match on Wednesday night when they were held to a goalless draw at home to Millwall. The result means Swansea have yet to win at home in the league this season, have just one victory from their opening seven games, and have scored just four goals.