Russell Martin | We were brave and have something to build on

Russell Martin praised the courage and belief of his players in victory over Bristol City, and hopes the 2-0 win is a foundation for better things to come for Swansea City.

The Swans returned to winning ways with goals from Liam Cullen and Olivier Ntcham securing the three points at the Swansea.com Stadium.

Martin’s side had much the better of the opening half and claimed the lead when Cullen steered in his seventh goal of the season from Ntcham’s pass 11 minutes before the break.

Joel Piroe hit the post early in the second half, but Ntcham made sure of the points when he showed great composure to convert his sixth goal of the campaign after a clearance had fallen to him.

It was no less than Swansea merited, as they got the reward their improved recent showings have deserved.

Ntcham and Liam Walsh were outstanding in the middle of the park, while the Swans back four looked assured as they claimed a clean sheet as Martin and his side head into the international break following a positive display and outcome.

“There is a lot of pride and gratitude for how the players played,” said the Swans head coach.

“I think the performance on Tuesday at Millwall – even though we lost – set us up well for today.

“The lads rose in confidence as the game went on Tuesday night, and we have been building over the last few games and getting back to where we want to be.

“Today, we got what we deserved, and that was important, particularly because of the game it is, the run we have been on and the international break coming up.

“It would have been a difficult couple of weeks, so I am really pleased they were able to play with that courage and intensity.

“We showed a real desire and energy, in a game under tough circumstance, and I think that will be so important for us and so big moving forward.

“We cannot get carried away with one win, we need to build on that now. It gives us a really positive place to build from and I think it will relax a few people and that will do us the world of good moving forward.”

“We limited them to very little, and we were brave in terms of keeping our defensive line intact which was why they scored an offside goal in stoppage time,” he added.

“We could have got a bit anxious and someone might have been tempted to drop back with some of the moments we have had in games this season, but the boys stayed really brave.

“We showed that courage in our whole performance, we had a real desire to defend. I felt Nathan Wood and Ben Cabango are really growing, and Harry Darling has really helped us slotting in there at right-back.

“The players are fighting, they are working so hard and running so hard for each other and we defended with real bravery throughout the game.”