Russell Martin | Nat and Cameron deserved debut opportunity

Russell Martin was pleased to see Nathanael Ogbeta and Cameron Congreve make their Swansea City debuts at Blackpool and get a deserved reward for their work on the training pitch.

Ogbeta joined the Swans in January from Shrewsbury but has had to be patient due to a hamstring injury.

Midfielder Congreve, meanwhile, signed his first professional contract earlier this week after a number of eye-catching performances for the club’s academy sides.

While disappointed that the pair made their bows from the bench in a defeat, the Swans head coach was pleased to reward the duo.

And he hopes they will have big roles to play in the future.

“They both deserved the opportunity, we are not doing it for the sake of it,” said Martin.

“Nat was brought in to give us something different and he has had to be patient because he got injured, so I am really pleased for him that he is out there, he is loving it and living it.

“He will be a work in progress after his injury and it will take some time.

“Cameron has been outstanding for the under-23s, which is what made us really interested in seeing how he would be in the first team set-up.

“He has come along and he has shown no trepidation, he has been himself and he has shown a lot of technical ability.

“He is very young, he has a lot to work on but he has unbelievable quality around the box with both feet, and with how deep they were defending I thought he might be able to do something, and with his first action he nearly did.

“I am pleased for both of them, and with the remit we have and the finances available we will be about young players learning and developing working with some of the older guys like Kyle Naughton, Matt Grimes and Cyrus Christie.

“We have to be brave enough when the time is right, we felt the time was right and I am pleased for them, even though we are really disappointed with the result.”