Olivier Ntcham pleased to make impact

Olivier Ntcham was pleased to make an impact off the bench as he scored Swansea City’s equaliser against Barnsley just seven minutes after his introduction.

It was a stunning first-time strike which he sent looping over visiting keeper Jack Walton to get on the scoresheet for the first time since the reverse fixture in November.

His presence gave the Swans a directness and energy Russell Martin acknowledged they’d lacked in the early stages, and he was heavily involved as the hosts turned up the pressure in the closing stages looking for a winner.

It wasn’t meant to be for Russell Martin’s men however, as the match finished in a draw, but Ntcham was glad to have been able to help the team continue their unbeaten run, which now stands at six games.

“I’m always on the front foot when I’m on the bench because I always want to help the team to do better. If we are winning, losing or drawing, I just need to make an impact for the game,” he said.

“It was a great feeling, because I haven’t scored a goal in a while. To score again is a good feeling.

“We are a little bit disappointed by the result. I think we can do better, win the game, and be more clinical in front of goal. But at least we didn’t lose.

“We are playing against a team who were fighting for their lives so it was always going to be a tough game. I think we managed quite well with that, but it was still disappointing not to come away with the win in the end.

“The target as a squad is to finish as high as we can. We don’t want to lose a game before the end of the season – that’s the mentality of the team.

“The last games are going to be a tough test for us, because we want to achieve the targets we have set as a team.”