By Gareth james
Russell Martin is banking on Dutch ace Joel Piroe coming back with a bang for Swansea City at Preston on Tuesday night.
Star striker Piroe returns to the squad after a three-match ban for his red card in the 4-0 defeat at Burnley.
That is the only defeat the Swansea have suffered in their last eight games and they have picked up three wins and three draws in their eight matches on the road in the Championship this season.
“Joel has got such high standards because he judges himself on goals. He brings us so much more than that and we’re trying to remind him of that,” said Martin of the striker who delivered him 22 goals last season and has four to date this campaign.
Six out of six points so far without Joel Piroe since his red card at Burnley, including a South Wales derby win.
Think the rest is going to do him the world of good, he’ll come back wanting to make up for that red card.
The Piroe parties will be back, no doubts at all. 🦢 pic.twitter.com/7D9gl3NmSY
— Jordan (@JordanWebber96) October 24, 2022
“He’s been so frustrated with himself, but he’s got a bit of a spark back. I think he’ll be ready and will have benefitted from this break.
“He’s in probably the best shape I’ve seen him, physically. We did some running the other day and I’ve never seen him run like that.
“He’s in a brilliant place and I think he’ll come back with a real bang.”
Martin is also hoping to a more sober reaction to last weekend’s draw at Bristol City than the previous weekend after the south Wales derby win. Martin pointed to the post-match celebrations in the wake of the 2-0 win over Cardiff City being a factor in a poor start at Ashton Gate.
Swansea super-fan, Chris, shares his story on how he found kindness in the football community ❤️#BBCFootball
— BBC Sport Wales (@BBCSportWales) October 31, 2022
“They earned the right to go out and enjoy that win with the supporters in the city, but if you go out and do that, you have to really make sure you’re a top performer the following week,” said Martin.
It took a 76th minute equaliser from substitute Olivier Ntcham to earn the high-flying Swans a point, although they dropped from fourth to sixth.
“That’s a brilliant learning curve for some of them. Some people can do it and get away with it, some people can’t.
The visitors will be looking to continue a very good run of form that has seen them take 16 points from the seven games since the September international break.
There are now just four games remaining of a hectic sequence of 11 fixtures in just 42 days, but three of the remaining four matches take the Swans on their travels, starting this evening.
Super sub ⚡️ @OlivierNtcham pic.twitter.com/2YjdsUBAwM
— Swansea City AFC (@SwansOfficial) October 31, 2022
They take on a Lilywhites side who boast the meanest defensive record in the Championship having racked up 10 clean sheets and conceded just 15 goals from 17 matches so far.
Deepdale has not proved a happy hunting ground for the Swans since John Toshack’s side secured the victory that sealed a first-ever promotion to the top-flight in 1981, but they will travel determined to keep up the form that has seen them climb into the play-off spots.
Swansea assistant coach Matt Gill said: “It is a really important period and we want to go into the break in as strong a position as possible.
“We have to continue the performance levels, and if we do that we will get the outcome we deserve if the performances are right.
“We felt on Saturday (against Bristol City) we fell below where we have been in that early part of the game, and we need to get back to those levels and we need to continue to be prepared to be ourselves home and away.