Over the past ten games Swansea City have enjoyed play off form, and over the last six it’s automatic promotion for the swans along with Nottingham Forest. We have all seen the games which have made this current run of form so inspiring, not only to the fans but clearly the whole thing is rubbing off on the players as well.

The recent upturn in form by the swans has been pleasing to watch. Especially the win over Cardiff City, a team who can also boast some decent form of late. Not as good as Swansea, but there or thereabouts. Russell Martin plays a style of football that really does need all the players focussed and alert. Traditionally in most sides that doesn’t work, but he has diligently put the players through weeks and weeks of training both mentally and physically to get to this current position.

Personally I didn’t think it would happen as well as it has at times this season, I believed in the philosophy but couldn’t see it making a difference until the manager had all his players in place. The derby games, often the preserve of close encounters with the odd goal being the difference saw a 7-0 two game score line in favour of the swans, There is a small clue in that pleasing stat. Also in the brutal way the game at Peterborough turned one way then the next, but again another win. The derby games required some special inner belief to win them so handsomely and make history. The away game at Peterborough needed the side to draw strength from their own mistakes and again ( for me ) implement it on the pitch. Millwall away last week was completely different, again a win but with some fortuitous moments in the last ten minutes. That last example displays what all teams need, that little bit of deserved luck, and it often falls to teams in form. The first half an hour against Derby County saw the swans click everything together from those games. We saw precise and confident finishing from Joel Piroe and a team brimming with every desire to show this recent climb hasnt all been luck.

We can see below that only Nottingham Forest are holding off Swansea City’s ambitions to be top on current form.

Those six games include of course the frustrating away game at Blackpool where the swans displayed their other side in a lazy 1-0 loss. The fall out from that game seemingly the catalyst for the following five matches. And goals as well. The swans now have two players whose job it is to put the ball in to the back of the net, and in Joel Piroe and Michael Obafemi those are the two names that are featuring the most. Sometimes scoring in the same game but noticeably in games when the other isn’t scoring but assisting in the move for their team mate to score. That’s team work and the realisation that anything is achievable if responsibility is placed on the individual to be a part of that team.

Even the ten game table, which will include those horrible defeats to Fulham and Sheffield United but clearly displaying the Michael Obafemi factor in the 3-1 win over Coventry is a favourable reflection of change. Below we can see a Swansea side in the automatic promotion places.

The ten game form guide gives more of an insight into the Jeckyl and Hyde potential of playing football the Russell Martin way. Especially when players are still developing themselves in to a prescribed role through the managers determined approach to dominating football matches. Even the game before the 4-0 Cardiff victory - which was the 0-0 home draw with Birmingham City you can read supporters wanting an end to the ‘experiment’ that will never work at Swansea City. Even without his desired players Russell Martin has implemented his blueprint for next season in to the minds of those he selects this time around.

That’s progress.

Tomorrow see’s another side as desperate as Derby County were last weekend visit the swansea.com. Barnsley are fresh from a mauling by the lions of Millwall going down 4-1 in a total collapse in their last game. Now eight points behind Reading who occupy the last ‘salvation’ spot for championship football next season this game has the same feeling about it as Derby County. Another loss for Barnsley and a win for Reading at Sheffield United, a tough ask, would almost seal the deal. Reading have seen a change in fortunes as well in recent games, they are the swans next opponents away on Bank Holiday Monday.

What supporters clearly wanted to see was proof that this Russell Martin vision for the swans actually works. They have seen it frustratingly and then pleasingly flourish, then appallingly and disappointingly fall on its face. The recent form reveals it does work, and for this season that is possibly all the supporters of the club wanted to see.

Some proof.

Well, they have had it in abundance of late, and of course with smatterings of what went before as well. That little gentle nudge that says ‘Oi, I’m still here, and I’m still watching’ Make that mistake again and I’ll give you a kick in the Fulham’s or sharpen my blade. The response has been overwhelmingly positive over the last month since the 4-0 defeat to those very blades of Sheffield we referenced just now. That was the start of this ten game run that ends up here this morning with swans fans believing they can watch their team beat anyone these days, just bring ‘em on.

It isn’t always going to be this easy, no team that plays in the way the swans do over these very recent times gets away with it every game. But those mistakes are getting less frequent as are the positive results and goals. There are two winnable games coming up for Swansea City this Bank Holiday, but be warned they are against two sides with their immediate futures at stake. No room for an over confident Swansea City side expecting to win.

So tomorrow there is definitely plenty of room for more of the recent same when it comes to results. ‘No compromise’ must be the slogan, stay right in there and keep looking up. It’s far better to do that than to be looking down. All that does is cause panic and the possibility of a slip. This way, the winning way, inspires everyone, and that’s the rub this holiday weekend. Get it right and apparently the play off dream is still on, albeit an impossible one for some.

I agree.

Who cares though, what we are seeing now is the product of hard work and yes, maybe some bloody mindedness. It takes every emotion to be tempered so you can be one hundred percent focussed on a goal which is reached in milestones. And lets be honest it may well never be reached at all. The sustainable level is the real goal for the swans come tomorrows game against Barnsley. And then the next, and the next. That’s the goal for me, consistency more regularly and development learned when there’s a slip along the way.

I don’t know about you but I’m loving this whole season from the dire to the brilliant, I’m up for it, and shouldn’t we all be ?

Swansea City take on Barnsley in the Sky Bet Championship at the swansea.com stadium tomorrow with a 3pm kick off. There is no admission without a ticket, and as of this morning only a few hundred remain on sale until the end of today. UPDATE Swansea City have announced the few remaining tickets are available for general sale up to KICK OFF tomorrow. Great news.

Photographs licensed from Reuters

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