Your Swansea City headlines for Saturday, April 16.
Martin rues missed opportunity
Russell Martin admits Swansea City have to learn from their 1-1 draw with Barnsley after failing to close the gap to the play-off places to just five points.
The Swans are now unbeaten in six matches but were uninspiring for long periods against relegation-threatened Barnsley on Saturday. Olivier Ntcham struck an equaliser for the hosts who ended the game strongly but couldn't find a second goal to claim a fourth successive win.
Victory would have seen Swansea move to within five points of the Championship's top six with five matches left to play, although they are now seven points adrift and Martin says the contest served as an example of how Swansea can ill afford to take certain opponents lightly.
“I’m not lying to you when I say to you guys I’m not really thinking about that [play-offs] before the game," the head coach said. "When you see the other results [on Saturday], it makes you think it maybe would have been a bit closer. But it’s something for us to learn from. We have five games left to make a real impact on our position in the table and also to keep building and to try and stay unbeaten for as long as we can.”
Ntcham revelling in sub impact
Olivier Ntcham was delighted with his latest exploits off the bench as Swansea earned a draw with Barnsley. The 26-year-old struck his fourth goal of the campaign as Russell Martin's men came from behind to claim a point against the Tykes, and Ntcham believes Swansea must focus on finishing as high as possible in the table this term to ensure they are in the best place possible to attack the 2022/23 campaign.
“I’m always on the front foot when I’m on the bench because I always want to help the team to do better," he said. "If we are winning, losing or drawing, I just need to make an impact for the game. It was a great feeling, because I haven’t scored a goal in a while. To score again is a good feeling.
“We are a little bit disappointed by the result. I think we can do better, win the game, and be more clinical in front of goal. But at least we didn’t lose. We are playing against a team who were fighting for their lives so it was always going to be a tough game. I think we managed quite well with that, but it was still disappointing not to come away with the win in the end.
“The target as a squad is to finish as high as we can. We don’t want to lose a game before the end of the season – that’s the mentality of the team. The last games are going to be a tough test for us, because we want to achieve the targets we have set as a team.”
Who was Swansea's man-of-the-match against Barnsley? Have your say in the comments section below.
Ayew and others send Grimes message
Players have paid tribute to Matt Grimes following the midfielder's 200th appearance for Swansea. The captain reached the landmark in the 1-1 draw with Barnsley on Saturday and has regularly been praised by head coach Russell Martin for his significant role in the team this season.
Writing on his official Instagram account after the game, Grimes said: "Absolute pleasure to play 200 games for this fantastic club, I’ve loved every single minute of it and I can’t wait to make more memories here."
Yan Dhanda, Jake Bidwell, Rhian Brewster, Nathan Dyer and Cyrus Christie are among those to congratulate the 26-year-old with messages on social media. And Grimes' former team-mate Andre Ayew simply commented: "Congrats bro! More to come!"
Grimes signed a new long-term deal with the Swans in November. He is contracted to the club until the summer of 2025.
