Roberto Martinez talks to the Western Mail about a host of subjects
The Swans take on the Shrimpers at Roots Hall today with the chance to pass the eighty point barrier and put themselves within reach of the club record number of points for a season. John Hollins' Championship winning side of 2000 managed 85 points and the Swans look as if they will eclipse that by some distance as they look for a return to the second tier for the first time since 1984.
Victory in today's lunchtime kick off will extend their advantage to twelve points, an almost inassailable lead at the top of the league?
It comes at the end of a week that saw the Swans win 2-0 at Bristol Rovers - a game marred by the arrest of Graeme Jones at the end of the game as well as the return - at last - of Owain Tudur Jones to first team action, he was a late substitute as he Swans looked to hold onto their two goal advantage.
And they were all topics that were on the agenda for Roberto to talk about as he said.....
On Rovers
“The tension in this derby is going to be no different than any other
“There will be no hangover because every game is different and players respond in a different way.
“I’m sure it will be a good, spirited 90 minutes and the two clubs will react in the same way that they did to this particular incident.
“I am expecting a well-disputed game, but always within fair play.”
Reflecting as the dust settles on the Memorial Stadium tunnel episode, Martinez added, “You get these incidents, sometimes they are made public, sometimes they are not.
“Tunnels are very interesting places, with the adrenalin and emotion at the final whistle, but that normally dies away and nobody knows anything about it.
“There’s no hard feelings and everybody moves on, but obviously on this occasion the police got involved.
“But after that everything calms down and goes back to normal and that’s what happened here.
“That’s why I say what happened on Tuesday will have no bearing on the approach of the two sides to this game.
“But at this stage of the season all games are heated because the three points is vital for both clubs.
“Derby games are a special breed and we have to enjoy them. It is another good opportunity to show the same spirit.”
On Southend
“They are probably at their best moment of the season right now,” said Martinez.
“They came down from the Championship and that takes a little time to find your feet.
“But they look a very strong side now and we have to be ready for it.
“However, we know each other very well as we have played each other many times over the last few seasons.”
On Tudur-Jones' return
“It was a huge moment for everyone related to Swansea,” he said.
“We all know that Owain has been away from the football pitch a long time and what he has had to go through.
“But he’s as strong as an ox, he has a desire to fight hard and he is someone who can play in midfield or at the back.
“He’s got a great mentality to get through this period, even if he is not fully fit.”
And on points records
“You don’t want to be in little runs where you don’t get a return, but we’ve always been calm.
“The lads know how to get results and win football games. From the outside people perhaps were getting a little too anxious.
“But we haven’t done so behind the scenes because you can’t go through a whole season without these periods (of not picking up points).
“The consistency levels have been really good and we’ve never been worried with the attitude of the boys.
“We’re talking about reaching the best points tally in the history of our football club.
“That is 85 points and we’ve got 77, so it’s something not to be taken lightly.”