JASON SCOTLAND has set his sights on getting 20 goals for the season after his tally moved into double figures on Tuesday.
Getting 10 goals by the first week of December is an impressive feat for any striker. But Scotland has done it in spite of a recent drought that had seen him score only twice in 13 appearances before the Northampton game.
During that barron spell, Roberto Martinez’s faith in the Trinidad and Tobago international never wavered. And the Spaniard was rewarded with a man-of-the-match display on Tuesday.
The player himself is happy with his current strike-rate. And is now looking to push on to the 20-goal mark by the end of the season.
“If you had offered me 10 goals by December at the start of the season, I would have been happy,” he claimed. “We still have the majority of the season to go so hopefully I can push on.
“The rate I’m going at now, hopefully I can get to 20 by the end of the season. But you never know.”
He added, “I had another spell before this when I didn’t score, so it’s not new to me. It was just pleasing to get a couple more on Tuesday.
“It was one of my best performances for Swansea. I have had a few other good ones, but hopefully I can keep this form going.”
Scotland was involved in a mini-debate with Darren Pratley about who would take the Swans’ 67th minute penalty. As the only forward on the pitch, he understandably won the argument and duly slotted the ball past a helpless Mark Bunn in the visitor’s goal.
The reason he was so desperate to take the penalty was simple; Scotland was keen to prove he is capable of scoring more than one goal per game, something he was yet to do in a Swansea shirt at that stage.
“I’ve never scored more than one goal in a game for Swansea so I wanted to get two,” he explained. “People always say I only get one so I wanted to prove a point.
“I thought I should have been on a hat-trick by then. But I had missed a couple of chances.”
Scotland has been given the role of lone striker in Martinez’s new-look formation. While he doesn’t like playing on his own, at least the 28-year-old has the lively duo of Paul Anderson and Andy Robinson to back him up.
The trio were all in inspired form on Tuesday. And Scotland believes, with an early goal under their belt, they could then play the type of football needed to keep Swansea at the top of League One.
“We went into the game on top of the league and we wanted to stay there,” he explained. “We tried to get the crowd behind us early on and we did that by making a good start with the goals.
“We got two early goals and that opened Northampton up, allowing us to play better football. Teams try to keep it tight against us so it’s good to score quickly.”
He added, “I don’t really like being a lone striker. But it’s a job I do for the team and hopefully I’m doing it to the best of my ability.
“Paul and Robbo try to be like second strikers as well. They play a big part in the formation too because they are the link to me.
“We are all comfortable on the ball. And once we have the first goal, we relax a bit, it takes the pressure off us and we play better football.”