By ANDREW PENMAN at the Liberty Stadium
RUSSELL MARTIN sang the praises of Swansea fans for driving his side on to a first victory in two months.
Ryan Manning’s left-foot thunderbolt six minutes into the second half was enough to see off a stubborn Preston side and earn the hosts three points in the first game since Welsh Covid restrictions banning fans were lifted.
“I’m really pleased for the supporters,” said Swans boss Martin.
“They’ve been so patient and understanding of what’s gone on.
“I thought the atmosphere was great and we really fed off that in the second half. Hopefully it stays like that now for the rest of the season.”
Alongside a towering performance from Wales defender Ben Cabango, Manning also contributed to a first clean sheet for his side since they won at Barnsley on November 24.
“We were pleased with a clean sheet,” added Martin.
“We kept a very good team to one shot on target in 90 minutes. We should have scored a couple more goals. We just needed to show a bit more calmness in front of goal.”
Ryan Lowe admitted that his North End side didn’t do enough to deserve anything from the match.
“I thought we might get something at the end but, in general, we gave away the ball too cheaply,” the Preston manager said.
“We ran our socks off but it’s just that last little bit – we know we’ve got to try to find a way of scoring more.
“The effort is always going to be there but we were just lacking that little bit of quality in certain areas.”
SWANSEA CITY: Hamer 5; Cabango 8, Naughton 6, Manning 7; Christie 7 (Fulton 84), Downes 6, Grimes 7, Latibeaudiere 6; Smith 6, Ntcham 6 (Wolf 46, 7); Piroe 6 (Joseph 74, 6). Subs not used: Fisher, Bennett, Obafemi, Walsh. PRESTON: Iveren 5; van den Berg 6, Bauer 6, Cunningham 5; Rafferty 6 (Sinclair 63, 5), Whiteman 6 (Ledson 84), Browne 5, Barkhuizen 7 (Olosunde 36, 6); Johnson 7; Riis 5, Evans 6 . Subs not used: Ripley, Lindsay, Mccann, Maguire. MAN OF THE MATCH: Ben Cabango. The Wales international was a tower of strength at the heart of defence. REFEREE: Josh Smith 6.