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Wales Online
Wales Online
Sport
Ian Mitchelmore

Russell Martin's biggest Blackpool frustration as Swansea City boss sends touching John Toshack message

Russell Martin admits Swansea City let themselves down defensively as Gary Madine headed home an early winner for Blackpool in the meeting between the sides at Bloomfield Road.

The striker found himself unmarked at the back post to score what proved to be the decisive goal after just four minutes in the north west of England.

While Swansea enjoyed plenty of control against Neil Critchley's side, Martin knows the Swans need to be far more creative in the final third.

"We've let ourselves down, conceding such a poor, early goal from someone we worked on," he said.

"It's unacceptable, really. But I thought we were dominant. We were playing against a very direct team and they had a couple of counter attacks because they had a lot of the ball.

"Their biggest threat was set-pieces and goal-kicks where they could hit Gary Madine, and unfortunately we've paid the price for it.

"After that, we didn't create enough, we had one massive chance with Cyrus [Christie] but when you're playing against a team who are built on defensive structure and good out of possession, it becomes really difficult.

"Because we've given them a one-goal start, it changes their mentality. That's the frustrating thing, but overall, I thought the performance was really good."

Read more: Blackpool 1-0 Swansea City - Gary Madine header earns Seasiders Championship victory

Nathanael Ogbeta and Cameron Congreve both made their debuts in the second half as Swansea improved without overly troubling the Seasiders.

Christie came the closest to earning the visitors a share of the spoils, although his header was saved by Dan Grimshaw.

Swans boss Martin admitted the lack of squad options available means he has had to juggle his team of late.

"We were dominant in the first half, although we didn't create enough," added Martin.

"We've done what we did with the players we had. Korey [Smith] was feeling a bit tight in his hamstring, so to try and play him at wing-back was difficult, Hannes [Wolf] is not fit yet, Nat is not ready to start.

"We have a lot of young men who finished the game. We just need to keep learning and growing. I'd love to see us in a year's time, especially when we come back here."

Meanwhile, Martin paid a touching tribute to John Toshack who is no longer in intensive care after being admitted to hospital in Spain, where he was put on a ventilator after contracting Covid-19 last month.

"It's brilliant news. We've been waiting for positive news and thankfully we've got some," he said.

"We wish him the very best and hope we get to see him at some point soon."

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