You can’t beat the feeling that thousands of Swansea City followers will have today, waking up on a Saturday morning with a glint in their eye as the days events are looked forward to. That special match day feeling that can only be enhanced by a Swansea City side playing some very attractive football, and at the right end of the league table.

Welcome, and good morning it’s the Swansea Independent match day review. If you take your time and reflect for a few minutes this morning over a well brewed cup of tea or coffee regards todays championship game against Sunderland it should become clear. The mantra from Russell Martin for fifteen months now has been one of trust, honesty and belief. And so it seems, at last the players he has assembled are beginning to project those three qualities, and display them in abundance.

Tony Mowbray, Sunderland boss speaking yesterday mentioned the outrun in form, he had to I suppose, it can hardly be ignored. "Their record recently is very good, I think it's four of the last five that they've won. It shows that in this division things can change very quickly and that three points at any time is massive for any team in this division. I'm looking forward to a really good game of football on Saturday, I have to say. I think they're a really good team, a really good possession-based team who want to dominate the ball. It's a really good test for us, to see if we can deal with their shape and their possession, and whether they can deal with us as well”

Like many managers these days it seems they have given up the idea of trying to restrict Swansea City’s possession, and at times their total football approach. Mowbray is already speaking about ‘dealing’ with it, and that’s not quite the same as ensuring his side play as they have done all season. It seems it’s Swansea that are the problem, and not Sunderland who need to impose themselves on the home side. Slaven Bilić couldn’t ‘deal’ with it and neither could Steve Bruce. And that is three managers in a week - who let’s be honest are hardly new to the game as Russell Martin is.

And that’s worth thinking about as well.

Mowbray continued. "Swansea move the ball through the lines really well, at times they push the wing backs really high and so if we catch them at the right moment, as it is for every time, they can be vulnerable. We'll go there with a game plan and we'll see how we get on." Now Mowbray is no mug, he has seen success on numerous occasions over the swans at a variety of clubs, he has been a name in the game for many years. But as I’ve said so are Steve Bruce and Slaven Bilić. Seeing how they get on isn’t really a plan Tony.

I think we all know he is sharper than that.

The new confidence in this Swansea sides ability to perform though shouldn’t be detrimental to todays overall game. Any slip in mindset and it’s games like these that can ruin the rest of your weekend. If any of those players in a white shirt today go out on to the turf with an attitude that is over confident, the walls as we know will come tumbling down. The biggest test today isn’t going to be Sunderland, or Tony Mowbray’s carefully planted ‘suck it and see message’ it’s going to be the swans themselves. When a team is on a successful run, and I mean teams who are recognised as proper football sides with an ethos on how they play, they have to maintain a standard and rarely slip below it. We’ve seen three very decent results for the swans in recent times, but those last two games have been won by the odd goal. And anyone who watched those games will know this morning that they both could have been lost.

That’s where the complacency issue needs to be drummed in to Martin’s charges today, many are young players experiencing this feeling for the first time. Sorinola, Cabango, Benda, Wood, Cundle, Obafemi and indeed Piroe have never experienced this in their football careers to date. That’s where some of the older heads need to be clever in how they help the swans boss to deliver this message. Players like Naughton and Allen with years of premier league experience are crucial in these situations. Matt Grimes has to be the captain he says he is, and it needs to be visible on the field of play and there’s no reason why todays game can’t deliver another three points for Swansea City.

Russell Martin can only do so much, and let’s get this straight if his season progresses in a positive way this is a manager a lot of clubs will be looking to prising away from Swansea. He has to concentrate on today, not tomorrow. As he said. “I hope we get a lot through the door, and after the last two games - and our last home game against Hull - I am sure there is going to be a brilliant atmosphere and our guys will need that energy after two tough away games and a long week. I think it will be a great atmosphere, I am certain that will help the game. We know it will be a tough one, but if we play with the same honesty and intensity the guys have shown for a while now, then we back ourselves to get a good result.”

Well,you can rely on the Jack Army for that Russell.

Of course he is right as well. Let most of your talking happen on the pitch, let others talk you up and the stock in yourselves as footballers and managers will also rise. However, and most importantly no matter how or where you watch your Swansea City games it’s days like these that we all should cherish. Days like these should never get away from you, to the real football fan they are crafted in to your mind forever. Enjoy it Jacks, we are on a roll, the positivity and atmosphere is back.

Come on my lovely boys !

Photographs licensed from Reuters

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