Nathan Wood hails impact of wide pair

Nathan Wood has hailed the impact of January signings Ronald and Przemyslaw Placheta, and the Swansea City defender admits he is glad he doesn’t have to face them on matchdays.

Placheta set up the opening goal in Saturday’s 2-1 win over Blackburn Rovers as his run and cross led to Joe Allen’s opener.

Ronald, meanwhile, scored a brace in the victory at Sunderland a week earlier and was again a lively presence on the flank.

Defender Wood believes the wingers have made a big difference to the threat the Swans pose in the final third, and praised their athleticism.

“It was great to get the win and show the character like we did at Sunderland to get the three points,” he said.

“We know the performance could have been better and we have lots to work on, but the coaches are great and very demanding, and we’ve also had two big signings who are brilliant athletes.

“It’s the first time since I’ve been at the club that we’ve had two really dangerous wingers. It’s a joy to play in and to watch, it’s exciting to watch and I’m sure it’s exciting for the fans as well. It’s great to have those two.

“There’s a couple of times in training where I’m up against them and I just think ‘oh no’, I don’t want to have to chase them!”

The win over Blackburn meant the Swans secured back-to-back league victories for the first time since October, and they will look to build on that momentum when they travel to face Watford at Vicarage Road in midweek.

Wood is pleased to see the hard work on the training pitch pay off, and is looking forward to heading back to the home of the Hornets on the back of Swansea’s memorable last-gasp win there last season courtesy of a Ben Cabango header deep in stoppage time.

“At the moment, we’re just happy to be putting points on the board,” he said.

“We went through a really tough patch coming up against some top teams, but we have responded well and it’s been good to get the rewards because it’s been a tough phase.

“We’ve got the Watford game next, and the game up there was one of my favourites of last season. Benny scored and it was a fun game to play in.

“We were just looking at the table and it’s really tight. We’ll try to get the win and do what we can.

“We know when we go on the pitch that if everyone does their job then we’ve got a good chance of winning. That’s the important thing, to stay consistent."