6-Player Rule Annoys Martinez

Roberto Martinez has again expressed his annoyance over the Johnstone's Paint Pot Trophy rule that teams must field at least 6 first-team players.

I'm sure many will agree with our manager's comments that it's a rule that certainly isn't fair for the teams. We should be freally allowed to pick the team we want and competitions like this give us the perfect opportunity to field second teamers, reserve players, those coming back from injuries and youngsters.

Their rule is understandable, they don't want teams not taking the Trophy seriously and many of the better sides going out in the early rounds. They need to attract sponsors and make the competition as glamorous as possible for them. But the best sponsor they could attract is a Paint company!? It's already been dubbed the Paint Pot Trophy and it's more than a joke than ever.

This rule has only angered teams and this has only made things worse for them. It's become more of a joke than without the rule. Against Millwall, substitutions were being made after just a few minutes, to avoid breaking the rule and receiving a fine.

Also I'd imagine that many teams would like to do well in this competition. There's money to be won and a nice trip to the new Wembley. I don't suppose they care us much if they get knocked early though because they then know that their most important first teamers won't be playing so often and are free in midweek to be fully fit for the weekend's League games.

The competition would still be competitive without the rule. Second team and reserve players will all be looking to impress to increase their first team chances and I cannot see much differences in attendances and quality of football without the rule.

Roberto Martinez sums it up to BBC Wales:

'I can see the thinking, the sponsors want to ensure strong line-ups,' 'But you could get better performances from players with fresh legs. 'This would be an ideal opportunity to try young talent in a competitive game, but we're not allowed to play them.' 'I'll consider making early replacements as I did in the last round, that's a way to play round the rules,' 'But you have to be careful in case of injuries. 'The final of the competition is a fantastic day out as we know from winning it in 2006, it's well worth it. 'We want to win every tournament that we're in and you should build a squad to cater for that. They should let us trust that squad.'

The Swans had the biggest crowd in the first round of the competition, with 5,721. There are reduced prices for the competition. Adults are £10 with OAP's £5. Under-16s can go in free with a paying adult. The match kicks off at the slightly earlier time of 7pm to attract younger fans to the game.

Only the East and West stands will be open, tickets can be bought at the stadium right up until kick off.

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