Obafemi on target for Swans

TEN-MAN Swansea City held on to claim a surprise win over automatic-promotion hopefuls Blackburn Rovers thanks to Michael Obafemi’s first-half header.

Obafemi’s 16th-minute goal was enough to claim all three points for the hosts at the Swansea.com Stadium, despite defender Ryan Manning’s dismissal eight minutes into the second half.

The victory, only their second in 10 games, saw Swansea climb to 16th in the table, while Rovers remain second, but they missed the chance to gain ground on leaders Fulham.

It was Jamie Paterson who made the difference on his return to the side with a superb cross for Obafemi to head home at the far post.

NIGEL PEARSON wants his Bristol City players to take a long hard look at themselves.

CJ Hamilton, Gary Madine and Josh Bowler grabbed the goals for Blackpool as Nahki Wells’ late strike proved to be a mere consolation at Bloomfield Road.

The away side have now shipped a damaging 54 league goals this season, the second most in the division and leaving them 11 points off the play-off places.

Pearson said: ‘Unfortunately the levels on individual’s performances go from one extreme to another at the moment. We can’t expect to have to score two and three goals to get anything out of games.’

RYAN LOWE paid tribute to his Preston side’s efforts after a narrow win at Hull.

Cameron Archer hit a post in the first half before scoring at the start of the second to give the away side the win following a cross by Ben Whiteman.

Preston had chances cleared off the line as well as a goal ruled out for handball.

Lowe said: ‘It was a frustrating first half, and it was a decent game. It was end to end. They stuck to the plan and followed it. It’s a tough place to come, Hull.’

It was a first defeat for new home manager Shota Arveladze and he said: ‘For every manager it is not easy to lose this way, but the next game is very soon. It is most important to get that right.’