Joel Piroe | Let's build on momentum
Stoppage-time hero Joel Piroe believes Swansea City must take the momentum built in the second half of Saturday’s remarkable draw at Luton through to Brighton and beyond.
Piroe was one of three substitutes brought on at half-time at Kenilworth Road as Russell Martin’s side looked to claw their way back from a three-goal deficit.
And claw back they did, with Piroe firing the injury-time equaliser past Simon Sluga to complete their second half comeback following earlier goals from Jamie Paterson and Olivier Ntcham.
The 22-year-old, who signed from PSV Eindhoven in the summer, remains the Swans’ top scorer this season, netting five times in all competitions, with four coming in the league.
Martin’s team now look ahead to their third-round Carabao Cup clash with Brighton on Wednesday, and the forward is confident the momentum gained from their second-half heroics can carry them to victory at The Amex Stadium.
“We’ll be able to take the momentum from the second half into the coming games,” said the Dutchman. “We have found the way how we want to play and the way we play gives us opportunities to create chances differently to what the team was used to -- it will take some adjusting to.
“We’re hoping to build on this performance when we face Brighton on Wednesday. We want to go through to the next round so we know what we have to do.
“It shows the spirit and character of the team to come back in the way we did, and shows that everybody is ready to fight.
“Even if you are not starting, everybody is ready to fight. It also shows that we have it in us but we have to do it from the start.
“Getting a win (against Brighton) would boost the morale of the whole team even more. We are on the right track, but we need to take the next step and start winning a lot of games.”
Piroe praised the performance in the second half at Luton, and thinks the Swans did enough to earn all three points - something they went close to achieving only to see Michael Obafemi denied in the last few seconds.
“The comeback was unreal, I have to say we did a great job,” said Piroe. “It’s actually a pity that we only scored three goals because I think if we had scored six or seven goals in the second half, we would have deserved it.
“We played well and created lots of chances.
“I’ll take a lot of confidence from the goal but having said that, the first goal I scored gave me a lot of confidence too. Now it’s nice to just push on.”
