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Wales Online
Wales Online
Sport
Ian Mitchelmore

Angry Russell Martin tells Swansea City players it's 'sink or swim time' as two strikers on brink of exit

Russell Martin blew up with his Swansea City players following their penalty shootout loss to Oxford United in the Carabao Cup.

The Swans were in complete control for much of the contest at the Kassam Stadium and led 2-0 thanks to goals from Jay Fulton and Liam Cullen. However, they conceded twice late on in the second half, with Alex Gorrin and Cameron Brannagan both netting to force the first round contest into spot-kicks.

And Matty Sorinola was the unfortunate Swansea man to miss from 12 yards out as Karl Robinson's men progressed into the second round - leaving Martin's troops without a win following their opening three games of the campaign in the process.

READ MORE: Oxford United 2-2 Swansea City: Hosts win 5-3 on penalties as Russell Martin's men crash out of Carabao Cup

Martin made four changes on the hour mark, and the vast number of alterations significantly disrupted the flow of the match. And the head coach says his players never should have allowed The U's back into the contest following a dominant performance for two-thirds of the fixture.

"The subs should not change the game as much as it did, for sure," said Martin. "We should be here talking about debuts, Azeem [Abdulai], Joel Cotterill, Joe [Allen] coming back, some really great performances, Ollie Cooper, but Ryan Manning, Jay Fulton, Joel Latibeaudiere and Harry Darling coming off, it really hurt us, and it shouldn't hurt us that much.

"Even then they didn't create that much. The goal was pathetic. And then, you're in a wall, just be brave. How it descended into that I just don't know.

"What they've done is left us open to criticism on our mentality and that stuff. What I would point to is the changes. We had such a young team on the pitch at the end, but even then, the experienced lads need to help them get through it, they have to, and they just didn't. I'm really angry and frustrated because for 65 minutes, you could tell the fans were enjoying it, it was a no-game. The amount of chances we had.

"If you look at the flow of the game, it was all us for 65 minutes, and then it just completely flipped. You can't do that, you need to manage the game better. That's maybe down to naivety.

"You want to see if guys can do it. Sink or swim time. A few swam really well and a few sank. I'm angry, the boys should be angry with what they let the game turn into because we should have been out of sight."

Meanwhile, Kyle Joseph and Jordon Garrick are both poised to leave Swansea on loan.

Joseph has attracted plenty of interest this summer and is close to joining Oxford United for the duration of the 2022/23 campaign. As for Garrick, he is nearing a switch to Lincoln City.

Garrick is yet to feature for the Swans this season and spent last term with Plymouth Argyle. His current contract at Swansea expires next year, and while the club do hold the option to extend that deal by an additional 12 months, the current signs are that he will be released next summer.

Joseph has found himself behind the likes of Joel Piroe and Michael Obafemi in the pecking order at Swansea, with Liam Cullen being handed a start in the number nine role for the Swans' Carabao Cup contest with Oxford on Tuesday night.

Joseph - who still has three years left to run on his deal with the Swans - was not involved against Oxford on Tuesday night but is now expected to spend the remainder of the campaign with Karl Robinson's men.

Swansea remain eager to add to their options this summer having brought in Harry Darling, Nathan Wood, Matty Sorinola and Joe Allen ahead of the current campaign.

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