Grimes marks landmark appearance with a goal as Williams praises his skipper

Matt Grimes reached another professional landmark yesterday when he made his 300th appearance for the Swans and marked the occasion with a goal from the penalty spot as the Swans took a deserved draw at Norwich in what was an entertaining encounter.

It was back in January 2015 that the Swans paid £1.75m to Exeter to bring Grimes, then 19 to SA1 although few may have envisaged then that he would still be in Swansea almost ten years later with an impressive number of appearances under his belt.

Loan spells at Blackburn, Leeds and Northampton just add to the experience of Grimes who, at the age of 28 has almost 450 professional appearances behind him in total.

Yesterday’s goal was his fourth league goal of the season and a fifth in total his most productive season in front of goal for the Swans with the midfielder only having netted in total fourteen times for the club.

Grimes has been pretty much an ever present under a host of Swansea managers since relegation to the Championship back in 2018 and, given the praise of Luke Williams after the game yesterday, it seems unlikely that his presence in the side next season will be anything but guaranteed.

“He is absolutely top,” said the Swans boss.

“We are so fortunate having the skipper, and again he showed his quality on the ball, and his commitment off it.

“Late in the game he made a forward run from deep to get inside the box and it was incredible.

“He gets kicked and just gets back up and carries on. It is impossible to speak more highly of Grimesy.

“I am very lucky and fortunate to get to work with him.”

Grimes did speak a little about his landmark after the game but was also keen to express the excellence of the performance that secured the 2-2 draw and took our unbeaten run to four games.

“I’m always happy to contribute with a goal, and it’s an honour every time I pull the shirt on,” he said.

“To get 300 appearances is beyond anything I thought I could achieve here, so I’m very happy and proud to reach that.

“Obviously, playing a top team away from home, they are going to have moments and I thought we were brilliant defensively.

“This run is almost like a dress rehearsal for next year, we want to play the way we do at home, away, no matter where we are, no matter the situation we’re in..

“We want to keep building, layering up our performances as we go along and I think everyone can see the strides we’re making and the progress. So we need to keep going, keep ticking them off and finish this season strong and take it into next season.”