Gomis is filling the Bony void

SWANSEA boss Garry Monk believes the way Bafetimbi Gomis picked himself up to score the winner after missing three good chances showed he is ready to fill the void left by Wilfried Bony. Gomis struck in the 87th minute following Jefferson Montero’s cross and Monk said: ‘Bafe didn’t let it affect him when he had those chances. He persevered and deserved that. His commitment and effort since Bony left have been top class. It has been a difficult start but I work with him every day and he will get better and better. I wouldn’t bring somebody in if I didn’t think they could compete and do well in this league. That will have done him the world of good, confidence wise.’ Villa boss Tim Sherwood insisted they would not fall back into the ‘depression mode’ he encountered on arriving. He said: ‘I’m still confident, even after this 0 little blip, that we’ll stay in the division.’

1 SUPER STAT: Every time Gomis has scored this season Swansea have won.

ASTON VILLA (4-2-3-1): Guzan 7; Bacuna 6, Okore 7, Clark 6.5, Hutton 6.5; Delph 7, Cleverley 5 (Sanchez 26, 6); N’Zogbia 6.5 (Westwood 68, 6), Agbonlahor 6.5, Sinclair 6; Benteke 6 (Weimann 75, 5).

Subs not used: Given, Gil, Kinsella,

Grealish.

SWANSEA (4-2-3-1): Fabianski 6.5; Naughton 6.5, Fernandez 7, Williams 7, Taylor 7.5; Ki 6.5, Cork 7; Routledge 6.5, Sigurdsson 6.5 (Montero 64, 7), Shelvey 6.5 (Dyer 85); Gomis 6.5. Scorer: Gomis 87.

Subs not used: Tremmel, Amat, Oliveira, Rangel, Fulton.

Man of the match: Neil Taylor. Referee: Bob Madley 6.