Martinez Insists Swans Must Consolidate

Swansea City manager Roberto Martinez has said that he is focussed on consolidation this season, and that Premier League football is still some way away.

His comments come after his side picked up one of their most impressive victories of the season, coming from a goal down to beat Norwich 3-2 at Carrow Road.

The result sees the Swans sitting just a point outside the play-offs, and has many fans dreaming of top flight football even at such an early stage of the season.

And whilst Martinez admits Premier League football is the ambition, it is not what he is looking for come the end of this campaign.

The Spaniard told BBC Sport:

'In football everyone must have a dream and ours is to play in the Premier League.

'But it could take us five years or even 10 years to achieve.

'Expectation levels are always very high in south Wales, but at the moment all we are trying to do is to consolidate at this level.

'Obviously I am very happy with the number of points we have won so far but our aim this season is to stay in this division.

'There are six or seven players here who have the ability to play in the Premier League, but at the moment we have still got to prove that we can compete week in, week out at this level.

'It was a big thing for us to come to a place like Norwich and get a result like this.

'This is the first time we have come to a Premier League environment and been ourselves, played the way we can and picked up the three points we deserved. It's a big step forward for us, a big moment.'

The Swans will find out just how far they have come this campaign on Friday night, when they host a Birmingham side full of players with Premiership experience.

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