Swansea City headlines as Russell Martin dissects missed opportunity and Andre Ayew sends Matt Grimes message

Your Swansea City headlines for Saturday, April 16.

Russell Martin admits Swansea City have to learn from their 1-1 draw with Barnsley after failing to close the gap to the play-off places to just five points.

The Swans are now unbeaten in six matches but were uninspiring for long periods against relegation-threatened Barnsley on Saturday. Olivier Ntcham struck an equaliser for the hosts who ended the game strongly but couldn't find a second goal to claim a fourth successive win.

Victory would have seen Swansea move to within five points of the Championship's top six with five matches left to play, although they are now seven points adrift and Martin says the contest served as an example of how Swansea can ill afford to take certain opponents lightly.

“I’m not lying to you when I say to you guys I’m not really thinking about that [play-offs] before the game," the head coach said. "When you see the other results [on Saturday], it makes you think it maybe would have been a bit closer. But it’s something for us to learn from. We have five games left to make a real impact on our position in the table and also to keep building and to try and stay unbeaten for as long as we can.”

Olivier Ntcham was delighted with his latest exploits off the bench as Swansea earned a draw with Barnsley. The 26-year-old struck his fourth goal of the campaign as Russell Martin's men came from behind to claim a point against the Tykes, and Ntcham believes Swansea must focus on finishing as high as possible in the table this term to ensure they are in the best place possible to attack the 2022/23 campaign.

“I’m always on the front foot when I’m on the bench because I always want to help the team to do better," he said. "If we are winning, losing or