Alan Sheehan believes he has instilled some “dog” into Swansea City and it is proving crucial to their fight to stay clear of the Championship relegation scrap.
The Swans interim head coach has seen his team open up a gap of seven points between themselves and the drop zone following their 1-0 triumph over Derby County.
“I said it would be a dogfight,” said Sheehan.
“Against a big physical team, we had to be more physical and at times that killed our fluidity.
“But it’s a fine balance to go and win a game against a team who are down there fighting and have a formula to win games at the moment.”
Eom Ji-sung’s second-half strike proved decisive at the Swansea.com Stadium, lifting the Swans to 15th place in the Championship standings.
For Derby, the result halted a run of four successive victories and kept them teetering just above the relegation line on goal difference, level on points with Cardiff City.
“It wasn’t a wonderful game, but it was a wonderful win,” admitted Sheehan.
The contest was largely devoid of quality and attacking flair, with neither side able to carve out many meaningful chances.
Swansea failed to register a shot on target until the 69th minute, in what was an uninspired first half for both teams.
“At times in the first half we forced things," Sheehan said.
"We went from back to front too quickly when the spaces were somewhere else.
“We found it hard to create tempo in the game because when you defend long throw after long throw, it’s difficult.
“We got into good areas at times but our final ball let us down. But it’s a wonderful defensive display, a win in the Championship and the one bit of quality in the whole game. At this stage of the season, that’s how it’s going to be.”
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The interim boss made it clear he knew what kind of battle his team were in for against a physically robust Derby side.
“I tried to explain the magnitude of this game in the week and I didn’t want to downplay it. Derby had won four games in a row against teams who are up in the top half of the table, so it was always going to be difficult,” he said.
Sheehan also praised the resilience shown by his defence, noting how crucial it was to match Derby’s direct style.
“Some of the defensive displays were outstanding, even though the game itself wasn’t very pleasing on the eye,” he added.
“I thought we dealt with their threats but we’d have liked to cause them more problems when we had the ball.
“You could see in the first 10 minutes of the game, the ball's coming into our box continuously from long throws.
“So you have to control that and match that. There were a lot of difficult decisions to make and now there will be even more difficult decisions to come because it wasn't a wonderful game, but it was a wonderful win.”
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Derby manager John Eustace accepted the loss but remained confident in his squad’s fight to stay in the division.
“We didn’t create many chances but neither did they – it was a tight game,” Eustace said.
“I’m not really worried about what other teams do, I’m just worried about ourselves.
“We’re just concentrating on picking up as many points as we can and seeing where it takes us. I hope the effort we are showing is going to be enough to keep us up.”
He also praised his side’s determination after a demanding schedule.
“All I ask is for us to be competitive and work hard. We had a difficult game on Wednesday, a long travel down to Swansea and the effort the boys put in was outstanding,” he said.
“It is a mad few weeks coming up but that’s the Championship. That’s why all we can do is concentrate on what we can do.”
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Looking ahead, Eustace is already preparing for Tuesday’s tough clash against league leaders Burnley.
“We’ve got a huge game against Burnley coming up on Tuesday and we’ll look forward to that. They are an excellent team with a good manager (Scott Parker) and a huge budget – that’s why they are top of the league.”
Swansea, meanwhile, return to action at home on Wednesday night when they host Plymouth Argyle.
