Ryan Manning keen for Swansea City to build on the positives

Ryan Manning believes Swansea City are in a much stronger place than this time last season, but feels there is still much more to come from him and his team-mates.

The Ireland international scored his first goal of the campaign on Tuesday as Swans played out a draw with Millwall and – while the manner of the draw was disappointing – Swans have created more chances, taken more points and scored more goals than at this point in the 2021-22 season.

And Manning believes there are lots of positives to build on, and feels Swans are only going to keep improving.

“The beginning of last season was difficult with covid and the changes at the club, everyone was learning on the job,” he said.

“This year, we’ve had a tough pre-season behind us, which should stand us in good stead as the season goes on.

“I think the first four or five games, we’ve shown a lot of positive things.

“The results haven’t been what we wanted, but if you compare it to this time last year, we’re in a much better place.

“There’s still plenty for us to work on and there’s a long way we can go as a group.”

The next test for the Swans is a visit from Luton Town to the Swansea.com Stadium on Saturday.

Last season’s play-off semi-finalists have picked up two points in the league so far, but Manning is expecting a tough test from the Hatters.

“Regardless of who we play, we have a philosophy and our way of playing,” he added.

“We focus on how we play rather than adjusting to what other teams do, but Luton is always a tough fixture, and they had a good end to last season getting into the play-offs.

“We know we’ve got our work cutout on Saturday and we have to be at 100% to get anything out of the game.”