Russell Martin spoke eloquently about his week as Swansea City and the hard work his players and staff have put in to improve the overall performance of the team before this weekend. And of course the swans are a point ahead of where they were last season. The positve spin has to be admired.

It’s fairly clear that Jamie Paterson won’t start tomorrow at Middlesbrough now that Martin has spoken about the ‘specialist’ advice the club has received this week regards a previous ‘injury’ and his rehabilitation. Albeit that Paterson hasn’t really performed in recent times. The transfer window closes at 11pm on Thursday night, so we will keep an eye on that.

Reflecting on the squad as it stands Martin is quite right when he says it is weaker than it was last season with the loss of Hannes Wolf, Cyrus Christie and the millions banked from the sale of Flynn Downes to West Ham. Albeit in instalments. All three are better than what the swans have in stock at this present time. Martin is philosophical “Yes we’d have liked more change with the squad. Would we have liked more experienced at times to help the young ones? Yeah. but that’s not being critical of them. They show support in a different way if they can't do it financially. I spoke to the owners after Millwall and they loved it, for ninety two minutes. They can see what we’re building. They thought it was one of the best performances since we’ve been here. They've been honest and supportive as far as they can financially. I understand people will be frustrated, as I was after the game on Saturday. It’s football. Every supporter, especially when you’ve had seven years in the Premier League, you want it again”

‘Certain things’ we have to take on board as well, especially if this Russell Martin style does kick in. If he is a late success it will still be an incredible achievement. As he says “I'm a young manager and I will make mistakes. That’s the situation. I wasn’t moaning about it, the aim is to always try and get to the Premier League, but we don’t have the financial resources of the majority of this league now. We were never told it was going to be any different. I think what’s happened, we’ve had a year to work, expectancy, you get excited about your team, which is brilliant, people really started believing, pre-season comes, the players have enjoyed it so much that their expectation goes up, they come out here and tell you guys and the fans think it’s a really realistic aim, albeit everything else suggest it’s going to be tough to do that”

Middlesbrough is the type of game the swans could easily find themselves folding under an avalanche of goals, especially on current form. Boro have new players in, and they are confident. Their budget is far more than the swans can currently afford, it could be a telling afternoon. In summary the swans boss is clear. “Middlesbrough have had a slow start, but they’re in a false position, as I think we probably are with how it’s gone. They definitely deserved to get more points. They spent a lot of money, they signed Matt Clarke this week. They’ve got a great manager and assistant manager. People who have been on a similar journey to us. Two people I have a lot of respect for. It’s a game I'm really excited about. They’re a team that tries to dominate the ball. Pit’s one to be really excited about as a group of players. They haven’t won yet and maybe that creates a little bit more anxiety for them. At some point that place will get going and they won't be anywhere near where they are in the league now, and hopefully we’ll be the same. We have to start justifying that belief. If we can go there and match the performance level for so long in the Millwall game, Blackpool we’ll be more than all right”

Middlesbrough v Swansea City kicks off at 3pm tomorrow.

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