Martin Olsson insists Swansea players are 'working much harder on the pitch' under new manager Carlos Carvalhal

  • Swansea earned an FA Cup replay with Wolves after drawing 0-0 on Saturday
  • Martin Olsson admits Carlos Carvalhal has increased the demands at Swansea
  • Carvalhal is dealing in baby steps as he looks to resurrect struggling Swansea   

Swansea defender Martin Olsson has suggested his team-mates are already ‘working harder’ under Carlos Carvalhal after the Premier League’s bottom side earned a replay against Championship leaders Wolves.

The application levels of some Swansea players were questioned towards the end of Paul Clement’s reign and during Leon Britton’s interim tenure and Olsson admits new boss Carvalhal has increased the demands.

Olsson said: ‘You can see more positives now in the way we play. You can see we’re working much harder on the pitch. The fans can see that we are working a lot harder, trying to show a lot of character on the pitch.’

Martin Olsson insists the Swansea players are 'working much harder' under Carlos Carvalhal

Martin Olsson insists the Swansea players are 'working much harder' under Carlos Carvalhal

Carvalhal is dealing in baby steps as he looks to resurrect Swansea and in the broader context of a season of toil, he will feel encouraged that his team at least survived this fixture without any further blows to their dignity.


Still, Wolves, who rested their two best players Ruben Neves and Diogo Jota, had the better chances and would likely have won the game if not for a first-half red card for 18-year-old defender Ruben Vinagre for a mistimed lunge on Nathan Dyer. 

Referee Anthony Taylor evened up the numbers when Leroy Fer cynically took out Helder Costa as Wolves sped away on a counter-attack in the second-half. It was a calculated foul but worthy only of a yellow card and Swansea are likely to appeal the ban.

Both sides made six changes and Wolves understudy goalkeeper Will Norris maintained his record of not conceding a goal all season. This was his 5th cup appearance, having previously shut out Southampton and Manchester City in the Carabao Cup.

Norris said: ‘I’m just proud to keep clean sheets really. I’m not making it out to be something that it isn’t because we’ve got great defenders, so it’s not just down to me.’

Carvalhal saw his Swansea side draw 0-0 with Wolves in the FA Cup third round on Saturday

Carvalhal saw his Swansea side draw 0-0 with Wolves in the FA Cup third round on Saturday