Andy Carroll's late goal earned the Toon a point they barely deserved and it could easily be seen as a get out of jail point for the manager as he spoke to the press after the game.
"Credit to our players in the end,'' he said. "We pushed, we got a bit braver in the way we play.
"We knew that was going to make it very open at the end and probably we were going to see us getting an equaliser or Swansea getting a second, so I'm delighted.
"There's no doubt we could have played better. I think you have to look at us being the away team coming back from that.
"When you take that into consideration we are delighted with the draw.''
"My very first impression (on the Carroll incident) was it was a ball he competed for and went to compete for but I haven't seen it again."