NARROW WIN UNDERLINES OUR SPIRIT, SAYS POTTER
GRAHAM Potter was delighted to see his Swansea City side put the frustration of their defeat to Rotherham behind them as they dug in for a 1-0 victory at Bolton.
As had been the case in South Yorkshire seven days earlier, the Swans led at the break but had wasted chances to extend their lead.
And they found themselves under prolonged pressure from their hosts during the final stages, with Erwin Mulder making a couple of fine saves to deny Sammy Ameobi.
Against Rotherham, Swansea had fallen to two late penalties and journeyed home with nothing.
But the outcome was different this time as a superb strike from Barrie McKay gave them all three points to keep them firmly in the play-off pic- ture. “I think 1-0 victories tell you a lot about the character of a team and I thought we showed a really good spirit,” said the Swansea manager.
“I thought we played well in the first half, we got the goal and maybe we could have had another.
“We didn’t and Bolton improved in the second half and then we had to be resilient and weather the storm which we managed to do.
“We probably had a bit of luck which you need, but I am delighted because we would have had memories of last week where we did not put it to bed, and it was great for a young side to experience it again.
“Our performance against Rotherham was probably better but we got nothing there, but we were in a scrap second half and we dug in and got the result so I am very pleased.”
Potter also praised McKay after his stunning early goal settled the contest.
The Scotland international has had a watching brief in recent weeks after an inconsistent start to his Swans career following his summer move from Nottingham Forest.
But his rising strike past Ben Alnwick into the top corner was a beauty, as was a lovely turn and raking pass which nearly teed up Bersant Celina.
And Potter hopes the confidence from his match-winning outing will stand the winger in good stead moving forward.
“I thought his first half performance was very good,” said Potter.
“He has attributes of a very high level.
“It was an excellent goal and there was a fantastic bit of play to put Bersant in. “It was a great strike. “If he can consistently produce that sort of strike he will not be in th Championship for long.
“For attacking players it is hard to find consistency but he has settled in, his response to being on the bench has been really good and it’s nice for him to affect the scoreline.”
Swansea were also able to welcome Wilfried Bony and Jefferson Montero after long-term injury problems; the pair making substitute appearances late in the second half as Swansea dug in.
“It was nice for them to be back, they have worked hard to be back, it was not the easiest situation to come on in but they have great qualities on and off the pitch and we look forward to working with them and hopefully they can help us,” added Potter.