Bartley delighted to score first Swans goal
25th July
Kyle Bartley was delighted to get his name on the scoresheet as the Swans drew 1-1 with Reading at Wycombe's Adams Park.
The big central defender scored his first Swansea City goal as Garry Monk's side came from behind to earn a share of the spoils with the Championship side.
After an evenly-fought first period, the second half began at a frenetic pace as Nick Blackman put Reading in front 40 seconds into the restart with a fierce long-range effort.
But Garry Monk's men reacted almost instantly as Bartley forced home the equaliser from close range following Jefferson Montero's low ball across the six-yard box.
And the 24-year-old insists that helping out with the goals is something the Swans defenders have been aiming to improve heading into the new season.
"It's nice to get a goal," said Bartley. "We've talked during pre-season with the gaffer about how the defenders need to start chipping in with some goals.
"Last year none of us got a goal in the league, but it's important that we try and help the forwards.
"It was a great strike from Nick Blackman to put them a goal up, but we reacted really well to strike back."
After levelling the scores, the Swans grew stronger as the game went on and came close to nicking the win as Marvin Emnes and Jonjo Shelvey both hit the woodwork.
And Bartley believes Swansea's pressure late on is testament to their hard work during pre-season.
"The fitness coach has done a great job with us during pre-season," he said. "All the lads have worked tremendously hard to get their fitness levels to where they need to be, and we showed that coming into the 75th or 80th minute. We were the team still pushing on, and hopefully we can take that into the first game of the season.
"Pre-season is all about getting the minutes in and working on things that we've been working on in training. The gaffer is happy that we've got 90 minutes in the bag, and hopefully the boys can get a positive result against Nottingham Forest."
