Graham Potter believes an FA Cup run can boost Swansea City’s chances of challenging for promotion from the Championship.
The Swans booked their place in Monday’s fourth round draw after one of their best displays since he took over in the summer.
Courtney Baker-Richardson, Nathan Dyer and Jay Fulton all netted in an emphatic 3-0 victory at Championship rivals Aston Villa.
Now Potter is looking for his players to maintain that form in the league as they look to move from their 12th place in the table – seven points of the play-off spots with 20 games left.
“I think it (a cup run) can help us because the second half of the season is the most important time of the season,” said Potter.
“You have to approach every game as if you want to win. I don’t think you can select games where it is not so important.
“Every game you have to get into that mentality that every game is a knock-out game and you want to win it.
“That’s the mentality we want to have over the second half of the season.
“We have had a lot of learning, a lot of experiences in the first part and we have tried to be competitive.
“We have not had too many bad performances and now we need to take all that and go forward in a consistent manner and try and attack the games.
“A cup run is great for the club, great for the supporters and great for the team, so that is something we want to try and do.”
Baker-Richardson gave the Swans the perfect start when he bundled in the opener after just two minutes before Dyer doubled the lead just after the break.
Fulton’s simple finish sealed the victory against a Villa side without former Swansea loanee Tammy Abraham who looks set to make a loan switch to Wolves from Chelsea this week.
