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Wales Online
Wales Online
Sport
Ian Mitchelmore

Russell Martin's bold QPR selection pays off as Swansea City have welcome dilemmas to solve

Swansea City clinched three points and kept a clean sheet as they beat Queens Park Rangers on Saturday.

Joel Piroe struck the only goal of the game as the hosts moved up to 17th in the Championship table following what was their second league win of the campaign.

Here are the key talking points from the Swans' 1-0 win over Michael Beale's side.

READ MORE: The wonderful Swansea City player ratings as bold team selection justified in QPR win

Plenty of eyebrows were raised when the team news was officially announced at 2pm on Saturday. The omissions of Michael Obafemi and Olivier Ntcham were obvious headlines, but the inclusions of Ollie Cooper and Steven Benda were equally eye-catching.

Cooper impressed at Stoke City on Wednesday night and deservedly kept his place in Swansea's attack. He rewarded the faith shown in him by Russell Martin with another fine display on what was his first home start for the club.

The Welshman provided real energy and always looked threatening in the QPR half. He showed determination and quality in setting up Joel Piroe to score what proved to be the match winner.

He did his share of defensive work too, ending the contest having made three tackles and a clearance before being withdrawn in the second-half. Ntcham would do well to look at the example set by the youngster following his limp cameo at Stoke City.

Meanwhile, Benda was handed his first league start for Swansea since Martin's men were beaten 3-1 by Preston North End at Deepdale in August last year.

As with Cooper, Benda fully justified his place in the side and produced an impressive display in which he kept what was only Swansea's second clean sheet in nine games in all competitions this season.

Benda made a fine save to deny Ilias Chair in the first-half before palming away Tyler Roberts' driven effort in the second 45, but it was his risk-free approach on the ball that served his side so well. Time and time again the German retained possession when he had the option to do so, but whenever the Hoops pressed, he had no hesitation in going direct.

"I'm delighted for Steven," said Martin when explaining his decision to drop Andy Fisher. "There's this thing around goalkeepers that you need a certified one and two. It's the same as any other position on the pitch as far as we're concerned.

"Form is going to dip, there's going to be moments where you feel you need a certain player in a certain position and we just felt Steven deserved an opportunity. He's trained so hard.

"Fish has done great since he's been in. He's still getting used to the rigours of the Championship and we just felt it was time for Steven, it's just gut instinct sometimes. He's an absolute machine physically and mentally, the way he trains every day.

"I'm really pleased for him. He's another one who has matured a hell of a lot in the last year, the way he's reacted to not being number one. I thought he was brilliant."

Benda was certainly aided by an impressive defensive display from the Swans, with Nathan Wood in particular shining. The 20-year-old has generally impressed this season, but costly mistakes have taken the gloss off his efforts.

But he was simply magnificent against QPR, both in a defensive capacity and in possession. The only real negative for the Swans was the injury suffered to Liam Cullen who was forced off the pitch just minutes after being summoned from the bench.

“It looks like he has dislocated his shoulder. We are devastated for Culls,” said Martin when assessing the academy product's injury. "He deserves to be in the squad, he deserved to come on and he was so tenacious and then that happens.

“We hope we can get some positive news, but it looks unlikely at the minute."

Obafemi and Ntcham will both return to training on Monday, and the former certainly has a battle on his hands to get back into the starting line-up following Piroe's resurgence in the number nine position.

The injury to Cullen could well leave Martin with a decision to make given that Piroe and Obafemi are now the only out and out strikers at the club. But it's abundantly clear that - following impressive performances from so many against QPR - the squad is suddenly looking far healthier than it did just a few weeks ago which can only be a good thing as far as Martin is concerned.

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