Jamie Paterson gaining more confidence from goals and games

Goalscorer Jamie Paterson praised Russell Martin’s trust in him after he played a key role in Swansea City's thrilling draw at Luton Town.

The Swans trailed the Hatters by three goals at Kenilworth Road with half an hour left to play, but it was Paterson that sparked their dramatic comeback with a long-range strike that beat Simon Sluga.

The strike marks his second goal in Swansea colours, with his first coming on his debut at Blackburn Rovers.

And Paterson, who has featured in every game this season after becoming Martin’s first signing as head coach, points to the gaffer’s belief in him as a contributing factor to his recent form.

“Obviously, I was out for a long time last season,” said the attacker, who featured sparingly for Bristol City last season. “The gaffer’s given me a bit of a lifeline, really, in terms of coming in and playing every game.

“I’ve enjoyed every game. I’m getting more and more confident, more and more fit. I can feel it in myself.

“I’ve scored a couple of goals already this season, and I’m looking to get more.

“I’ve had a couple of chances that I was really disappointed with.

“I’m always looking to be the guy to chip in with goals and assists, and to be the guy getting up the pitch when we’re struggling - just be that guy to make a difference.

“In the second half at Luton, I felt like I did that. Obviously, Olivier (Ntcham) came on and scored a very good goal.

“Joel (Piroe) also came on and made a difference; Michael made his first start and he played really well in the second half.

“That’s the kind of thing we need to hang onto and build on.”

Despite earning a deserved point in the dying moments of the clash, Paterson admits the Swans underperformed in the first half. However, he was full of praise for the character shown in the second-half comeback push.

“It was a game of two halves. We started poorly, really, and I think we can all admit that. We just weren’t good enough in the first half," admitted the former Bristol City man.

“There were a few words spoken at half-time, and we came out and gave it a right go. And you can tell from the start of the second half that that’s how we want to play.

“The goals we conceded were silly goals. We put the pressure on ourselves, and we’re still learning the style of play and all that, and I think in the second half we showed confidence, we showed that we’re all together.

“It was an unbelievable feeling to get the draw in the end. We wanted to win the game -- and we nearly did at the end – but we’ve got to take confidence from that now as we go into the next game against Brighton in the Carabao Cup.

"We want to build on the momentum; we’ve had a lot of games, we’ve got a big squad, so there’ll probably be a couple of more changes again.

“We just need to keep everybody fresh.

“It’s another tough test for us, and we’ll go there trying to win.”