Martinez Believes Butler's Premiership Class
Swans manager Roberto Martinez says that Tom Butler has Premiership class
Butler struck eleven minutes from time in a frustrating night for the Swans who worked hard to try and break down a resilient Luton side. And after another impressive display from the Irishman, Martinez was not slow to lay the plaudits on him. ''Tom Butler is a special player,'' purred Martinez. ''And if you can use him to his strengths, he is a Premiership player playing in League One.
''I set him a target to get 10 goals this season, and he's not far off now with six. I know that's a lot more than he's ever managed before in a season, but the surprise shouldn't be that he is getting them now, it's that he didn't get them before.
''If you saw him training you'd see he is one of the best strikers of the ball with either foot. He is very good in one-on-one situations and he's also very good at getting himself into shooting positions.
''I think he's probably enjoying his football more than he has before and that is paying dividends.''
Butler was largely disappointing in his first season at the Liberty last time around but was frequently unable to sustain a run in the team and was not allowed the freedom that he appears to have now. However, as with most things about Swansea City, that has changed this time around and that can only be to our benefit.
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