Hard-Work Pays Off For Britton

Leon Britton put in another man of the match performance on Saturday as Swansea City romped to a 5-0 thrashing over Carlisle.

The little winger is definately one of our top performers at present and he says hard work on the training ground has payed dividends this season.

He told the Western Mail that Colin Pascoe helped with his positional sense this year which helped Britton to scoring a few more goals than usual.

He said: Where has it all gone right? 'Just lots of work on the training ground,' says the former West Ham trainee ahead of today's Liberty Stadium reunion with Carlisle.

'Last year, Swans coach Colin Pascoe did a lot of work with me on positional sense.

'He showed me videos of a few games where I wasn't taking the opportunity to get in at the back post. We went away and worked on it and thankfully it's paying dividends.

'Quite a few of the goals I've scored have been as a result of me taking a gamble at the far post.

'I've obviously had to work on my finishing as well, but if you get yourself into the right areas, you've always got a chance of getting goals.

'Hanging around at the back post, you can pick up goals if the keeper fumbles the ball or someone shanks a shot.'

Britton also revealed that he'd be dissapointed to return to his previous role in the centre and said: 'At first I was reluctant to move out of the centre because I'd played in that position since I was a lad of eight or nine.

'But now I'd be disappointed to go back into the centre. I like the space and time you get out on the right. I've grown into the role and enjoy it so much.'

With only a handful of games during the promotion season in 2004/05, the 24 year-old also added that he was close to leaving the Swans but decided to stay: 'I always liked it at Swansea so I decided to stick in there and give it another go. Thankfully, things have worked out and I think I'm playing better now than I did when I first joined the club.

'I was buzzing when I came down from West Ham because it was my first time playing league football.

'Now, though, I'm older and more experienced. My all-round game has improved and I'm glad I made the switch from the centre to the right of midfield.

Click here to join in the debate on the club forum.