Russell Martin Haverfordwest

Russell Martin pleased with pre-season victory over Haverfordwest

1st July
First team

Russell Martin was pleased with his squad’s application as they kicked off their pre-season campaign with a 7-0 victory over Haverfordwest County.

The Swans welcomed the Cymru Premier side to Fairwood in a behind closed doors contest as the build-up began to the 2022-23 season.

A hat-trick from Joel Piroe and a brace from Liam Cullen - coupled with strikes from Kyle Naughton and Jamie Paterson made for a comprehensive victory for Russell Martin's men.

Martin fielded a separate XI in each half as players got minutes under their belt as the first fortnight of pre-season came to a close.

“I’m really pleased with their application and the way they have trained these past two weeks,” said the head coach.

“And that’s everyone, regardless of whether they played a lot last season or not. It was a nice way to finish off the first two weeks because they have worked really hard, both physically and tactically.”

It also was the first chance for new signings Nathan Wood, Harry Darling and Matty Sorinola to play with their new team-mates as the trio all started the game.

And Martin was full of praise for the trio after the way they have settled into their new surroundings.

“Whenever you sign for a new club it’s hectic and intense, and it probably helped that we knew two of them already (Darling and Sorinola) so they knew what to expect and it’s great to work with them again.

“And Nathan has been brilliant, a great profile and a really exciting prospect for us. There’s loads for us to work on with all the players but I think they are coming into a group which helps each other.”

The Swans will play several more games behind closed doors at Fairwood, together with trips to Plymouth (July 12) and Charlton (July 23).

And Martin hopes that each game will provide a different test as the squad work towards the Championship opener against Rotherham on July 30.

“We’ve tried to step up the opposition in every game over pre-season in order to face different challenges and different tests,” he said.

“It suits us being here at Fairwood, we can be flexible with minutes, we can play four 30-minute games rather than two 45-minute games.

“It’s going to be different challenges and tests and hopefully we step up a level each time.”