Swansea City can put five points gap between themselves and Derby on fourth again tonight with victory that will move them at worst to within three points of the leaders at the top of the Championship.
As the season passes its one third point, Rodgers has steered Swansea into a fantastic position boosted by an unbeaten 7 match run that continued with Sunday’s 1-0 win over Cardiff.
That win was played down by Dave Jones following the game but Rodgers preferred to retain his own opinion of the game “It doesn’t annoy me.” he told the Western Mail
“Very often a manager has to put their perspective, their spin, on a match straight after a game and you might not see it quite as clear as it perhaps was.
“I don’t like to talk too much after games because it’s not until 24 to 48 hours after that you get the true picture of things.
“And I’m sure Dave, on reflection, feels we were worthy of the win.
“I’ve spoken to Cardiff supporters and heard them on the radio and they’ve obviously seen it as well.
“We had more possession but we know how we play and we’re always confident that nine times out of 10 we will be the better team with the ball, whether it’s Cardiff or anyone.
“We had 13 shots on target which is an incredible amount. I set the players targets to get 10 away from home and when you do that you’ve done very well, but to go to a team like Cardiff and their defensive record and get 13 shows the performance.
“So statistically as well as in terms of result and performance we were the better side.
“I have my own beliefs of how we work and how we play and I sit comfortable with that.
“I have a lot of respect for Dave as a manager with a lot of experience and we’ve spoken many times since I’ve come here.
“This is just the fall-out from a game that has a lot of meaning to a lot of people.
“You got a sense of it in the build-up, I had a few messages from different people afterwards and I had a nice one from Frank Lampard on the morning of the game.
“And now, being able to step away from having all my focus on the game itself on Sunday, I totally understand it now.
“You can see it with the supporters everywhere you go. I heard one fan say it doesn’t matter if we lose every game now, which is not quite how I would look at it.
“It’s a big game that you want to win. You might not always win them, but you must enjoy them when you do.
“The derby was great and I was left very proud of the team, of the football club and our supporters,” said Rodgers.
“But I’m always the same in that if we win I won’t get carried away and I won’t get too disappointed when we lose.
“When you’re winning you’re never doing everything right, and when you’re losing you’re not doing everything wrong.
“What Sunday does is gives us a lever to move on with a momentum about our performance levels.
“This is an important week for us with Middlesbrough also at home on Sunday and, beforehand, seven points out of nine would have been terrific.
“Now, with two home games the ambition is to get nine.
“Our focus first, though, is fully on Bristol City because I think the challenge will be harder.
“When you play teams at the top – and especially derby games – the motivation is easy.
“But I have an honest group of players here who realise they still have to do their jobs against a team near the bottom.”
