Swansea City head coach Vitor Matos believes successive clean sheets for his team are more significant than the back-to-back victories that have lifted them six points clear of the relegation zone.
The Portuguese praised his team’s resilience after they beat Portsmouth 1-0 at home to record their first back-to-back league victories since April.
Matos lost his first two matches in charge of the Swans but followed up his side’s 2-0 win over Oxford at the weekend with another victory thanks to Liam
Cullen’s only goal of the game in the 78th minute.
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The win has taken Swansea up to 18th in the table, but leaves Portsmouth still in the relegation zone with just one win in their last 10 matches.
“The effort the team put in, especially the midfielders, was unbelievable,” said Matos.
“That allowed us to stay competitive during the game and then it's about the details - like a brilliant shot from Liam again, which gave us a good goal.
“More important than back-to-back wins are the clean sheets. We kept that another clean sheet at home and this is the kind of mentality, the understanding, that means we can start building things from the defensive way.
“We know that we need to keep improving and that there's a lot of things to come still. So, it’s another step, another game and in three days we play again.”
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Wales forward Cullen curled in a brilliant 20-yard strike on 78 minutes to settle a cagey contest with his first goal in 12 games.
The result leaves John Mousinho's Pompey side in 22nd place, two points adrift of safety and was a fourth defeat from five games.
Mousinho said: "The performance was really solid and the effort levels were there, we just switched off for the goal and didn't get the press right.
"There was nothing in the game but what is frustrating is that we got into some really good areas and just did not put Swansea under enough pressure.
"When we get into good areas we either don't shoot or the ball doesn't come into the area quick enough. With the players we have at the top of the pitch, we definitely have to be better.
"The major frustration for me was the goal. I could have taken coming away from here with a point."
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Both teams urgently needed points, but the first half was breathless without much quality.
Swansea carved out the stronger openings. Eom Ji-Sung steered wide early on, before Adam Idah and Ronald narrowly failed to reach an inviting Ethan Galbraith cross.
Pompey’s best moment saw Lawrence Vigouroux beat away Conor Chaplin’s bouncing volley.
Cameron Burgess flicked a header over and Melker Widell forced Nicolas Schmid into a smart save, but it stayed goalless at the interval.
After the restart, Josh Murphy — loudly jeered for his Cardiff past — almost stunned the hosts, only for Vigouroux to turn his shot past the post.
Matos’ substitutions injected some life, with Zan Vipotnik hitting the side-netting moments after coming on.
Swansea’s pressure finally paid off when Zeidane Inoussa’s persistence down the left and a loose touch from Malick Yalcouye opened the door for Cullen to whip home the winner from the edge of the area.
