Alan Sheehan says Swansea’s improved form is an “incredible achievement” after his side beat Sunderland to move into the top half of the Sky Bet Championship.
Sheehan’s time as caretaker head coach improved even further with a 1-0 win against the promotion contenders at the Stadium of Light.
It was only the second time fourth-placed Sunderland have been defeated on home soil this season and saw the Swans climb up to 12th.
Skipper Ben Cabango’s 58th-minute finish, when he forced a rebound over the line after Harry Darling’s header crashed against the bar from Eom Ji-Sung’s free-kick, was the difference.
That was enough to seal a third win in a row and ensure Swansea have climbed away from the relegation zone by taking 17 points in nine league games under Sheehan.
The Swansea caretaker boss said: “My memo was to keep this team in the league, so to go into the top half of the table is an incredible achievement by the players.
“I am satisfied. Compare where we are to where we were, and we are in a really good place.
“In order to build a good team you need to build character, resilience, togetherness etcetera. This was the third game in a week and it was a case of getting through and digging in like we did for the last 20 minutes.
“We have beaten Derby, who are flying high at the moment, we beat Plymouth, we have come here and that’s three wins and three clean sheets. I couldn’t be any prouder of the players.
“We were coming up against a very good team, we had to respect how good a team they are.
ready
“I am taking one game at a time. If I said this week was busy it would be an understatement. Everything I do is focused on how we set up our team to be the most aggressive, to be the best version of ourselves.
“I am enjoying myself. It’s a wonderful football club and it is going really well. To get six clean sheets in nine, you have to be a good team.”
Sunderland, who are al assured a top-six spot, are hoping to finish the season strongly to hit the play-off battle in perfect shape.
Head coach Regis Le Bris said: “This was a disappointing result. We expected more and wanted to win but it wasn’t to be today.
“We didn’t create many chances and it was difficult to put them under pressure.
“They were well-organised and it wasn’t easy to find a solution. At the same time, we didn’t find the good dynamic, the rhythm to find a solution.
“We are in that period where we have a specific goal at the end of the season. We want to win the games but we want to make sure we are in the best shape.
“It is a weird period and well deserved because we almost secured fourth place today.”
