Guidolin hails courageous comeback

Francesco Guidolin hailed his side's "courage" and "character" after the Swans came from two goals down to snatch a 2-2 draw at Stoke City.

After Ibrahim Afellay and Bojan had fired the hosts into a 2-0 lead, goals from Gylfi Sigurdsson and substitute Alberto Paloschi earned the Swans a share of the spoils.

Stoke started the game well and opened the scoring in the 13th minute when Afellay nodded home the opener from Marko Arnautovic's cross.

Bojan's driven effort after half-time doubled the home side's advantage in the 53rd minute, before Sigurdsson struck his 10th goal of the season to pull one back for the Swans midway through the second half.

And after being introduced in place of Bafe Gomis, Paloschi snatched a point for the Swans when his deflected effort nestled into the back of the Stoke net in the 80th minute.

And Guidolin took pride in his side's emphatic comeback.

"I think it was a good transformation in the second half," said the Swans head coach. "We showed character and courage.

"I was happy with the football we produced. I saw my team play well in the first half, but we didn't do well in the final 30 metres of the pitch.

"But I told my players at half-time that the match was very open and that they should play as if it is the last match of the season and that we need one point.

"After five minutes in the second half, we had five corners and showed personality and courage.

"Stoke were the best team in the first half, but overall I think we had more situations to go forward than they did at the conclusion."

Meanwhile, Stoke manager Mark Hughes was left frustrated after his side surrendered their two-goal lead.

"We were good value at 2-0 and had chances to get a third, which would have taken the game beyond Swansea," said Hughes.

"But the key was who was going to score the next goal, and Swansea got that and it gave them some energy.

"Overall, we're disappointed and it feels like a defeat, but I felt there was some progressive play to our game."