Your Swansea City headlines on Wednesday, April 12.
Martin's summer hope
Russell Martin believes a strong finish to the season will further aid Swansea City's bid to have a positive summer and build ahead for the 2023/24 campaign.
The Swans go into their final five matches of the Championship season having picked up 10 of the last 12 points on offer while also claiming three clean sheets during that period.
And while Martin says his focus is on ensuring players, staff and fans remain fully behind the club's project, the head coach admitted he was hopeful a successful run of results would help to positively influence other matters such as recruitment and player contracts.
"I want to influence how the supporters feel about the team, how the players feel about what we're doing and about themselves, how the staff feel about us and what we're trying to do," Martin said.
"Building momentum to finish the season strongly would be a brilliant way of doing that. If that then influences things further afield then great, if it has a positive impact. Winning football matches has a brilliant impact at every football club.
"The way that we're doing it as well with the identity of the team that we want is an even better feeling to us. Finishing strongly will only help us moving forward as a club in terms of recruitment, keeping some of our own players, the supporters in terms of how they feel how we're doing so hopefully it can continue."
READ MORE: Swansea City receive fresh seven-figure cash injection as owners boost club coffers
Fisher's 'massive' moment
Andy Fisher described hearing fans chant his name during the 2-0 win over Wigan Athletic as a "massive" moment following his struggles at Swansea City this season.
The goalkeeper established himself as the club's first-choice shot stopper last term but lost his place to Steven Benda after a 1-1 draw at Stoke City early on in the current campaign.
However, he regained his place in goal following Benda's knee injury at Queens Park Rangers in January, although he made high-profile errors against the likes of Luton Town, Millwall and Cardiff City during what was a testing run for the Swans.
Nevertheless, Fisher has significantly improved of late and has kept three clean sheets in his last four matches, with his performances against Coventry City and Wigan in particular catching the eye.
He made two vital saves from one-on-one positions in the goalless draw with the Sky Blues while he produced a magnificent one-handed stop to deny Thelo Aasgaard at Wigan on Monday having also played a key role in his side's stunning second goal against the Latics.
Shortly after half-time of the contest at the DW Stadium, the 778 members of the Jack Army who travelled to Wigan chanted Fisher's name, with the goalkeeper applauding the Swansea faithful to thank them for their support.
And the 25-year-old has opened up on his struggles while admitting the support from fans has been vital to his recent impressive form.
“We scored two really good goals and to get a clean sheet made it even better,” he told the club website after the 2-0 victory at Wigan.
“The clean sheets give me massive confidence. It’s no secret that I’ve had a tough season, I got back in the team because of Steve’s injury, and it was tough for a while.
“I was trying too hard to prove myself so I was overthinking games and then mistakes started coming.
“But the lads and the coaching staff have stuck with me and hopefully things are turning now. The three clean sheets are doing us the world of good. Hopefully, I can show what I can do now from now on.
“The fans singing my name was massive. Like I said, I’ve had a tough season so for them to stick with me shows the kind of fans they are. They’ve given me a lot of confidence in these games.”
Walsh update
Russell Martin expects Liam Walsh to be available for Swansea's clash with Huddersfield Town having missed the 2-0 win at Wigan.
The central midfielder was absent for a hefty proportion of the campaign owing to an Achilles injury sustained in pre-season but made his long-awaited return to action as a substitute against Stoke City in February.
Walsh started four matches in succession prior to the trip to Wigan and fully demonstrated his qualities as part of Swansea's improved sequence of results.
And Martin revealed the 25-year-old was omitted from the squad at the DW Stadium given his significant injury lay-off prior to his recent return to action.
"It was just a precaution really," the Swansea boss said of Walsh. "He was absolutely spent after the game on Friday (against Coventry City).
"To make him travel and then to be on the bench, we always planned to leave him out of this one anyway because he's been out for a long time, we have to respect that.
"Hopefully he'll be back involved on Saturday. We've got a few selection dilemmas to face now which is a really nice problem to have.
"I'm sure he'd have liked to have been out there today (at Wigan), he bought about 30 tickets for his family because it's quite close to home and he's had to miss out, so that's my fault.
"But I think he understands and respects that we're trying to look after him so he'll be back next weekend."
Kick-off against the Terriers is at 3pm on Saturday.
Fresh investment confirmed
Swansea City have received fresh investment worth more than £1m from the club's majority owners.
The seven-figure sum will be used to help fund the club's running costs and manage debt.
As a result of the cash boost, the shareholding of the club's American owners Jason Levien, Steve Kaplan and Jake Silverstein has increased while all other shareholders have been diluted.
You can read the full story on the latest investment here.
READ NEXT:
