Swansea City really did cling on to a 1-0 lead for most of the game last night at the swansea.com stadium in front of the Sky TV cameras. It wasn’t a classic as a returning Jamie Paterson provided the assist for Michael Obafemi to score the only goal of the game.

Russell Martin was delighted with the win especially after Ryan Manning had two yellow cards in the game.”I'm delighted with the win, although the little ball we had isn’t what I want in the last half hour every week. The way they dug in, the resilience they showed, I just feel pride. Michael Obafemi deserved that today. I'm really pleased for him. It takes some people longer than others to feel settled and to understand what they are a part of. He's been on the pitch more because he's deserves to be. We didn't start the second half anywhere near well enough which was frustrating, but we found energy and dug in. A big mention to the guys who came on the pitch as well. They helped us finish the game incredibly well. The fans, the way they reacted to Paterson coming back in, helped everyone. It certainly helped him, and it certainly helped the team."

It’s a shame that Martin has had to struggle with certain attitudes this season. Players not buying in to the ethic until it’s half way and more through the campaign. A seemingly fit again Jamie Paterson and a fired up Michael Obafemi was all the swans needed to win this game. Two players who for a variety of reasons haven’t managed to understand the daily training ethos and commitment Martin wants to continue until the end of the season.

Maybe now they will. And also it may well be they will understand that this swans side is about the team, not the individual. You put on a white shirt and you play for Swansea City.

However, Blackburn boss Tony Mowbray had other thoughts on last nights game.”The game, until the sending off, went as we thought. I thought we created some chances on the back of their possession. It was a disappointing goal, we don’t lose goals like that generally, a diagonal ball into the box and I think the goalkeeper should have taken a braver starting position. We should have defended it better than we have. We have had a lot of clean sheets and they are very disappointed with the goal we lost. I don’t think that’s the story of the game. After the sending off the team found it difficult to break through a deep block and we hadn’t prepared for a deep block, we’d prepared for Swansea who keep the ball and put men infront of the ball and try and play through your lines. The game changed and it felt as though we had a young team out there”

Regretting his sides domination with no response Mowbray was annoyed with his sides lack of awareness. “There was a naivety of not knowing how to break through a deep block, yet we did create chances. Lenihan should have scored, like Buckley’s first half chance, he had an almost open goal that he should have put the ball in the net. It wasn’t to be. It felt a little bit like it wasn’t going to be our night. We needed to be more clinical when the chances came, we should have had a few goals. It became difficult against a deep block against a team not trying to score a goal, they were trying to keep a 1-0 lead. I don’t know how many efforts or crosses we had, but credit to them, they fought really hard and showed they were playing with intensity for their manager and team.”

It seems an odd assessment from Mowbray stating that up until the sending off the game went as he thought. It isn’t certain what he was thinking when he said that because when the sending off occurred Blackburn were already a goal down. There were snippets throughout the game that could have given the contest a different score line. Manning was dismissed eight minutes into second half, when he was given a second yellow for a high boot on Lenihan having been booked just before the break for a foul on Nyambe. Blackburn dominated possession and territory from that point on, yet struggled to create chances until the closing stages. When Giles crossed from the left and the sliding Lenihan shot wide at the far post it certainly did seem it would be the swans night. For the swans Ben Cabango again proved what an asset he is to the club.

Swansea have proved over recent games the silly mistakes of December when a goal was quickly marked off by conceding within seconds are gone. And it also seems the confidence from yesterday’s win will take them positively forward for Tuesday nights game at Stoke City. For us it wasn’t the finest choice of players from the start, it was incredibly attacking (and brave) and that strategy certainly paid off. So we have to give Martin a thumbs up for those brave selections from the start of the game.

We are still seeing a Swansea side that lacks goals and this has to change, but to beat a side as accomplished as Blackburn Rovers have been this season is proof, albeit at times, Martin’s vision can work. It’s just about consistency.

The swans move on to a really tough away game at Stoke in Tuesday but will most certainly be heartened by yesterday’s very hard fought win.

Swansea City: Fisher; Cabango, Downes, Manning; Christie, Ntcham (Smith 58), Grimes (C), Wolf; Paterson; Obafemi (Bennett 55), Piroe (Latibeaudiere 72).

Subs not used: Hamer, Burns, Fulton, Joseph.

Goal: Obafemi 16

Yellow cards: 🟨 Ntcham 37, Manning 38 & 54, Christie 90+2

Red card: 🟨 🟥 Manning 54

Blackburn Rovers: Kaminski; Nyambe (Rankin-Costello 69), Lenihan (C), van Hecke, Wharton, Zeefuik (Khadra 60); Travis, Rothwell, Buckley; Giles, Hedges (Brereton Diaz 60).

Subs not used: Pears, Ayala, Johnson, Davenport.

Yellow cards: 🟨 Rothwell 24, Buckley 33

Referee: Tim Robinson 6/10

Attendance: 16,933

Photographs licensed from Reuters

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