'Was something that was visible' - Swansea boss shares what made difference in win against Portsmouth
Swansea City claimed a narrow home win against fellow Championship strugglers Portsmouth on Tuesday night.
Swansea City boss Vitor Matos has pointed to one key factor that helped his side claim a much-needed home win against fellow Championship strugglers Pompey last night.
Both sides are firmly in the battle to avoid the drop into League One this season, with Tuesday night’s meeting in south Wales viewed as a pivotal fixture as the season slowly ventures towards the always-crucial festive period.
With the stalemate remaining in place with the final 10 minutes of a tight and nervy affair approaching, it was the Swans who snatched the win and three precious points thanks to a winning goal from substitute Liam Cullen.
The Swans academy product came off the bench with just over half an hour remaining and fired home only his second league goal of the season to give his side a second consecutive win and ensure troubled Pompey will head into this weekend’s home game with Blackburn Rovers sitting in the Championship relegation zone and two points from safety.
Matos praised the mentality shown by his players throughout the game and believes their ‘willingness to improve’ turned the fixture in their favour.
He told the Swans’ official website: ‘It’s been a good few days for us. The big thing we can take from this game is the effort and desire of the players. Their willingness to improve was something that was visible on the pitch. It was a hard game, we knew it would not be a perfect game but that with the right mentality, the right concentration, the right understanding of how the game would go, that we could be this kind of team.
‘A lot of things made an impact in the game. The subs made a great impact, Liam scored an unbelievable goal, so we need to keep this mentality, understand we can hurt the opposing teams in different ways.
‘We need to improve our game quality, but we are really happy with the win and with the clean sheet, and the effort we put in. We now need to make sure we keep improving.’
What did John Mousinho say about Portsmouth’s defeat at Swansea City?
Speaking to The News after his side’s 10th defeat of the season, the Pompey boss said: ‘The goal is the difference, and I’m really disappointed with how we concede it from getting the press wrong at the top end of the pitch.
‘We make the subs and get the message on to try to make sure they’re clear in what they’re doing, I think we got that wrong. That was the moment that changed it, but I was pleased with the performance - I just think we can be a lot more creative and more ruthless in the final third.
‘The gap and the league table is irrelevant to me at the minute, we just need to make sure we try to win a game. We have to try to win that game at the weekend, every game coming up is absolutely huge now. We have a big game against Blackburn at the weekend and then it’s Derby, QPR and Charlton - these all massive games for us.”
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