These are you Swansea City headlines on Saturday, September 24.
Benda loving being back
Steven Benda says he is loving being back in the frame following his promotion to Russell Martin's starting XI.
Andy Fisher started the season as Swansea's number-one goalkeeper but after an indifferent few games the head coach turned to Benda, who has impressed since his return between the sticks.
The German stopper was linked with a move away from SA1 this summer but he has put transfer talk behind him to help his team back to winning ways, with a 3-0 win over Hull City a real confidence-booster before the international break.
“The result before the break was massive, going into the break with confidence, a win, a clean sheet and scoring a lot of goals, it’s going to help us build in the next couple of weeks,” he said.
“We’ve got a lot of games coming up so we want to try and build on that, keep getting wins and keep the performance levels high.
“We’ve had a couple of results that didn’t go our way this season despite good performances, but now we’ve got that win and we just need to keep building on that.
“For me, on a personal level, I have loved it. It’s great to be playing. I’ve just tried to help the team out and, to get two clean sheets and some good performances from the team is important and hopefully we can build on that.
“It’s not easy to keep yourself motivated when you aren’t involved, but, for me, I’ve always tried to work hard and to get better in training. If you do stay motivated then when you get your chance you are ready.”
Piroe's unseen work
Martin says the work unseen work Joel Piroe does off the ball is fully appreciated by him and his team-mates.
Piroe, by his lofty standards set last season, has endured a slow start to the current campaign but in recent weeks he has found form and now has four goals to his name.
In truth the Dutchman is more than just goals, with his link-up play and pressing key parts of his game. And Martin says his efforts are recognised.
“The defensive job Joel does for the team is really appreciated by us and his team-mates," Martin said "We know what he does with the ball, but he does some incredible work without it too.”
Swans lose junior South Wales derby
A Kyle Kenniford penalty shortly after the hour mark and a Cody Twose goal deep into added time sealed all three points for Cardiff City in the junior South Wales derby on Saturday.
The defeat put an end to Swansea's three-match unbeaten run, who will be kicking themselves after creating a number of good opportunities in Leckwith.
It was was David Roberts who brought down Gabriele Biancheri in the Swansea box for the penalty, which Kenniford converted, and the Bluebirds sealed the game late on through Twose's close-range finish.
Swansea City Under-18s: Ewan Griffiths, Sam Parker, Seb Dabrowski, Arthur Parker (Richard Faakye 66), David Roberts (Aimar Govea 57), Josh Carey, Dan Watts, Kyrell Wilson (Rohan Davies 85), Geoff Bony, Iwan Morgan, Zane Myers.
Unused subs: Kit Margetson, Jacob Cook.
Cardiff City Under-18s: Jake Dennis, Joe Keeping, Luey Giles, Morgan Lewis, Dylan Lawlor, Dan Barton, Cole Fleming (Cody Twose 46), Kyle Kenniford, Gabriele Biancheri, Isaac Jeffries, Japhet Mpadi (Trey George 90).
Unused subs: Callum Jones, Joe Thomas, Tana Jones.
Montero finally scores again
Former Swansea winger Jefferson Montero scored for his club 9 de Octubre in their 4-1 shock Ecuador Cup semi-final win over Independiente del Valle this week.
It was an even sweeter night for the Ecuadorian as he netted his first goal in 1,310 days. Not known for being prolific - far from it, in fact - but for an attacker to go three years, seven months, and two days between registering a goal is some going.
His last goal came in the colours of West Brom while he was on loan with the Baggies, and you have to go back to his strike against Oxford United in the FA Cup to recall his last goal for Swansea, in January 2016.
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