It has taken eight games but the weight of the world looks to have lifted from the broad shoulders of Swans head coach Michael Duff.

Talking post match he said. "I think the two overriding emotions are pride and relief. I was proud of the players, the way they stuck together. I was also really pleased with the supporters as well because we asked them on Thursday to come and support the team, and at nil-nil when they started better than us and a couple of passes went astray, there was no negativity in the ground. That doesn’t half help the players that. The togetherness they’ve shown and the togetherness the players have shown and the energy and the quality and the amount of times we pinched the ball high up the pitch, I was a little bit disappointed we didn't probably score a couple more goals like that. Once that second goal goes in, you can feel the whole stadium - well, it was more of a sigh than a celebration - because everyone's been feeling it. There's no getting away from it. The players want to do well, the supporters want to do well. We want to do well. But you need everyone pulling in the same direction and today I thought it was a little bit more how we want it to look."

The Swans did look much better ‘at times’ yesterday but there were still numerous mistakes and poor decision making when in promising attacking positions. However, Duff can be forgiven this morning for seeing just positives in a good 3-0 win. “I am happy and proud, and relieved. I am proud of the players, and I am really pleased for the supporters, too,” he said. We have been in a difficult moment, with lot of ups and downs, things have gone against us. But the supporters got right behind the team and that is going to be so important for us, so I have to thank them for that first and foremost.

Jerry Yates (above) had his best game for the Swans by a long stretch scoring his third goal,of the season. Duff continued. “I thought the way the players stuck together was great. We had an injury in the first three or four minutes, and you can think it is a case of ‘here we go again’. But they stuck at it, and the subs came on and impacted the game really well. It could, and maybe should, have been more. But a clean sheet, three goals and three points, with some really good performances, and the thing I was most proud of was how everyone stuck together”

The relief was palpable when Jamal Lowe (above) calmly placed his spot kick home in the first half, the smiles evidence of a side that has been playing with the shackles firmly on this season. As the players raced away to celebrate with the Swans east stand. Michael Duff has the win he so longed for after several close shaves and the expectancy will be now he builds on this as Millwall away is the next game away on Saturday.

Photographs with permission Swansea City AFC

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