MARTINEZ UPBEAT DESPITE DEFEAT

Martinez - positive outlook.

Boss Roberto Martinez feels Swansea are ahead of schedule in their preparations for the forthcoming Championship campaign.

That is despite the Swans boss seeing his side beaten 4-0 by Espanyol in the opening game of the club's pre-season tour of Spain.

"We are further ahead in terms of quality than we were last year. Yes, the result was disappointing, but it is not about results at this stage. As far as the exercise goes, it was exactly what we needed," Martinez told Swansea's official website.

"It was a fantastic test, something you need if you are going to keep improving as a squad.

"Espanyol paid us a compliment in the first half by putting their stronger team out because they expected a tough encounter, and I don't think we disappointed them. In the first half we were face-to-face with them. I thought we had more possession and made better use of the ball.

"But although we had good chances in the second-half, when we went 2-0 down we let that affect our performance. We conceded two sloppy goals and we didn't learn from it.

"But we are getting better every day. We need to look at the Espanyol performance, step up a level and realise we have still got a lot of hard work to do - but in a positive way."