Roberto Martinez was very praising of the Swans after his Wigan side drew 0-0 at the Liberty Stadium

Roberto Martinez was very praising of the Swans after his Wigan side drew 0-0 at the Liberty Stadium

Martinez made his first return to Swansea as a manager and watched on as they could have snatched a late victory bar for Michel Vorm's penalty save from Ben Watson.

“The occasion was all about starting the Premier League history at the Liberty Stadium and that’s more important than anything else,” said Martinez. 

“It was great to see so many familiar faces and get so many great memories back, it was about the players, the game and the day.

“I wouldn’t say it was a surprise, the feeling I’ve got towards this football club is very strong.

“It’s great that people realise we are where we wanted to be, maybe that was part of the process.

“It’s great to see where the club is now, to beat Hull to stay in the Football League and now be in the Premier League eight years later.

“I had a hostile reception last year (when Swansea played at Wigan in the Carling Cup) but I’ve got too much respect for the fans and the football club and, as I said, I would have accepted any views.

“But I think the views are a lot easier to understand now because when Swansea City play in the Premier League everything makes sense.

“When you miss a penalty, hit the crossbar and the post you feel that you should win the game,” said Martinez.

“If you play that game 10 times you are going to win it more times than you are going to draw it. We knew we had to play the occasion as well as the game. The first half we had to be fully concentrated and cancel Swansea out.

“We know exactly the strength of Swansea, they get on the ball and use the possession and we knew it was going to be an energetic display from them. But we coped really well and stopped them getting in good areas and in the second half we opened up them a little bit.

“We grew into the game, we hurt them a little bit more and I felt we looked a real threat when we went forward. We had good chances to score so in that respect I felt we dropped two points.

“Ben Watson is technically superb and I’ve never seen him miss a penalty,” he said.

“He’s scored a few penalties for us – one last week against Norwich – but I think you have to give credit to Michel.

“He was very clever, he moved slightly quicker as Ben took the penalty and guessed it very well.

“Those decisions give you points, it’s small percentages which gives you points. You shouldn’t look at Ben, you have to praise the astute move from Michel and it’s a good start for him in his Swansea career.

“It’s a team that’s going to go from strength to strength and Brendan Rodgers is going to get them competitive in the Premier League.

“Everyone in the Swansea team has got a real cohesion and a real connection, they were so arrogant on the ball which is perhaps the greatest strength you can have in football. It was great to see.”

Photo: Action Images

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