Phil Sumbler
The Swans welcome bottom club Rotherham United to the Swansea.com Stadium tomorrow looking to build on the confidence boosting midweek display over Stoke.
Wednesday night’s 3-0 win over the Potters finally banished any fears of relegation from the camp and with Rotherham nineteen points adrift at the bottom of the table and with just six points from fifty-one available this year you would like to think that this should be another three points for Luke Williams side.
Nothing though should be taken for granted especially from the Swansea City class of 2023/24 but we saw enough on Wednesday to know that any performance at a similar level should result in an equally comprehensive scoreline in the game.
Captain Matt Grimes was singled out for praise for his performance on Wednesday evening as the captain took a man of the match performance as well as scoring the all important second goal from the penalty spot to give the Swans a lead that provided comfort that we would take the maximum points.
It was a scoreline that reflected the level of performance that Luke Williams had called for from his team but it is also a performance that needs to be built on – we cannot put in these levels of performances once every handful of games and that is something that was acknowledged post match by Grimes.
“It’s a massive confidence boost to get the win, but we need to stay at those standards, we need to keep that intensity,” he said.
“That performance was much needed after the last couple of displays. We really dropped below our standards intensity wise, so to put on a display like that, which was full of energy and running, and backing each other up, was brilliant.
“The Middlesbrough game was a disgrace, I thought we were shocking, probably as bad as we’ve been all season. We were so flat, we didn’t turn up at all.
“We knew we needed a reaction against Stoke, showing that intensity and getting a result, which we did.
“That’s how we want to play. It’s been frustrating the fact we did so well in a lot of games leading up to the Cardiff game, and it was almost as if the Cardiff game was the cut-off point.
“It’s essential we put in another good performance on Saturday. That will be the message, and then we have to do the same at Huddersfield and finish the season really strongly.
“We’ve not given the fans a lot to celebrate this season to be honest with you, especially at home, so playing in that way is vitally important to give them a boost.
“They pay their hard-earned money to come to the games, and they want to see a team that is exciting, playing on the front foot and winning games and that’s what we have to give them.”
