Williams credits the chef for derby win and hails his “incredible” captain

Luke Williams was understandably a happy man after securing the Swans a derby day victory over Cardiff City this afternoon with a performance that was undoubtedly the Swans best performance since he took charge.

A first half goal from Liam Cullen and a last minute one from Jamal Lowe proved to be the difference between the two sides but the goals only told some of the story as the Swans dominated their rivals from the East and resumed normal service in these fixtures after our defeat at Cardiff back in September.

It was a turbo charged atmosphere at the Swansea.com Stadium from the outset and the home support was rewarded with a performance that the Swans boss described as one with “intensity, calmness and control”

Williams credited some of that to the club chef who he revealed talked to the squad pre-match and highlighted the importance of this fixture to the supporters and the Swans boss revealed how that helped the pre-match build up.

“I think the first thing I came to the stadium for pre-match and I walked down the tunnel and I saw pictures of Lee Trundle, Nathan Dyer and Wayne Routledge and looked at all the images and numbers.

“We had the chef speak to the players which made the pre-match so charged and the way we played the game was ideal for me with the intensity added to control, calmness and a clean sheet.

“The chef is a great example of the Swansea Way with so much care and compassion for the club – when people see that they know that it cannot be faked.  He spoke to the players from his heart and everyone knew it was authentic and I believe gave us the extra we needed to make that performance.”

Williams was also full of praise for Matt Grimes who he described as “incredible” before adding praise for Joe Allen, Liam Cullen and Jamal Lowe for their own part in the victory.

“I think the whole team got everything correct,” Williams added.  ” The Captain was incredible in the middle of the pitch helping us to press and get organised.  His performance summed up the performance today.

“No-one can put it better than Joe Allen who put in another brilliant performance.  We gave the fans what they would like most with a performance of quality and aggression with a desire to keep a clean sheet.

“It was an all round team effort.  Looked at the way we celebrated at the end.  This is the requirement we have to be a good team.   The first goal was a difficult finish but Culls is so calm in front of goal and he angled it brilliantly.

“Jam showed his quality by skipping away from the challenge by settling himself and finishing.

“This was a really great point especially after the missed penalty.   The players recovered so quickly and we did not suffer any real serious threat.

“This is a platform to build on both in performances and the rapport with the fanbase.  The celebration at the end will be long in the memory and hopefully we can do many more like that in the future.”