These are your Swansea City headlines on Friday, October 21.
Martin's January transfer window hope
Russell Martin believes the January transfer window could be pivotal if Swansea are to push for a top-six place in the Championship this season.
The seventh-placed Swans are currently three points adrift of league leaders Queens Park Rangers and are level on points with Norwich City and Luton Town who are both in the play-off positions. Director Jake Silverstein admitted the club's ownership group will assess the club's league position before determining how strongly to back Martin in the winter window.
READ MORE: Jake Silverstein Q&A in full as director addresses Trust deal, investment and club's owners
And head coach Martin has revealed that planning for the upcoming window is well under way. "We're talking about it already, with Josh [Marsh] and Julian [Winter], Jake," he said. "We spoke about it over dinner the other night.
"We're all in agreement really. It'll depend on what we do in between now and then, it'll depend on what we feel we're really capable of a team and a group and then what we need to try and help us achieve want we want to.
"I think there's a couple of things we could add that'd really help us and the dynamic of the team, for sure. Now it's about identifying the right guys who can bring that. The recruitment team are working hard at looking at what we've agreed we feel we need.
"We have people who have been on lists for a while that we will continue to monitor and look at. The rest will be down to making sure we only bring in people who can really help these guys because they've been outstanding. That's the toughest one in January, making sure you get people who come in for the right reasons and with the right character.
"It always a really tough window, January. It's chaos isn't it. Some of the stuff that comes about. For Jake, Steve [Kaplan] and Jason [Levien], it'll be making sure we get value for money. I think we're well on top of it. These conversations have been going on since the [summer] window closed. We'll sit down again, a lot, between now and then. As Jake said, he's in contact with us all the time. Everyone's on the same page which is the most important thing."
We know what derby means - Lats
Swansea defender Joel Latibeaudiere says the players are "buzzing" for the derby and know exactly what it means to everyone associated with the club.
Swansea's record in the fixture is a good one, with 3-0 and 4-0 victories recorded last season, and Latibeaudiere says that experience is driving them on again.
“I can’t wait for the Cardiff game especially on the back of last season, we want to go and perform well again,” he said.
“We know how much it means to the fans. Even after the West Brom game, we’d started talking about the Cardiff game coming up because you know what it means to people.
“The chef (Chris Watkins) is a massive fan and he’s had his countdown on from 30 days out - we see it every time we go up for food.
“We’ve got a lot of people at the club that this game means a lot to, and we really want to win for them because of the hard work they put in that no-one else gets to see.
“The fans are such a big part of the club, and the backroom staff who are fans, it’s our way of giving back to them. I don’t think anyone knows what the derby is like until they’ve seen it. We've got some players who will be getting their first taste of what the atmosphere is like around these games and I’m just so excited for them to see it.
“All the players are buzzing for it and we can’t wait.”
Hudson: Table doesn't lie
Cardiff City interim boss Mark Hudson says Martin is doing a good job at the Swansea.com Stadium, adding "the table doesn't lie".
The hosts head into the derby in seventh place - just three points off the top of the table. The Bluebirds sit 18th but only six points behind their rivals.
Hudson has says he and Martin have crossed paths before and praised the work the former Norwich City man has done down the M4.
"We've come across each other before," he said.
"They are going well in the league, so he has done a good job. The table doesn't lie.
"Any plan takes time, it needs patience. I've listened to other managers speak. I listened to Conte the other day, he is 10 months into his job and he is talking about how it takes time to get your complete stamp on a team.
"We had 17 new players and we are still early into that. But we have a group we believe in and we are working hard together."
Prutton's prediction
Sky Sports presenter David Prutton can only see a home win in SA1 on Sunday.
“That was some response from Swansea, "Prutton wrote in his weekly column, referencing their 3-2 win against Reading following their hammering in Lancashire. "Bludgeoned at Burnley last weekend, two goals down against Reading in midweek, and they battled back to win 3-2. It is five wins from six now.
“From the moment Cardiff went down to 10 men and conceded that penalty you knew they didn’t have a chance at QPR. They need to get a move on and appoint a new manager. Hard to see much past a home win here.”
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