Paul Clement: Swansea City victory is massive

Paul Clement toasted a "massive, massive result" after his Swansea City side overcame Southampton to deliver the first home victory of his Liberty Stadium reign.

The Swans head coach admitted there was room for improvement in terms of performance after what he described as a "mixed" display.

But he had no complaints about the scoreline as a 70th-minute goal from Gylfi Sigurdsson saw the Saints go down 2-1.

The Swans came through a nervy spell in the closing stages to make it back-to-back Premier League victories for the first time this season, giving their bid for top-flight survival another major boost.

"It was a mixed performance, but a massive, massive result against a good side," Clement said.

"They had a really good 3-0 victory over Leicester in their last league game and then they got a massive win at Anfield, so we have beaten a really good side here tonight.

"We did some really good things. We didn't start very well - we gave them too much space in the first 10 minutes.

"But once we got to grips with that, the 30 minutes leading into half-time were very good. We got our goal - we are strong at set-plays with the delivery (of Sigurdsson) and some powerful players in the box.

"We had chances to get one or two more goals but (Fraser) Forster made some good saves.

"We actually started the second half quite well. Then they got the goal which was a blow, but the players responded well.

"They kept their spirit and their confidence and we scored a really good goal. There was a lot of pressure after that, a lot of balls into our box, but we dealt with the majority of them well."

After the slow start, the Swans took control in the first half, and deservedly went ahead shortly before the break through Mawson.

The centre-back nodded home his second Swans goal - and his first in SA1 - after meeting Sigurdsson's near-post corner. 

Southampton came into the contest in the second period, and levelled just before the hour through Shane Long.

From that point, the Swans had to dig deep and to their credit, they did exactly that.

The winning goal came at the end of a swift counter-attack, with Sigurdsson scoring for the second straight game to take his tally for the season to eight goals.

"Gylfi has fantastic delivery at set-plays and he produced a wonderful finish after good work from Luciano Narsingh, who made an instant impact," Clement added.

"But I would like to comment on Gylfi's work ethic. People have asked me if he is all right playing on the left, but I haven't had a conversation with him about that.

"He has done everything that has been asked of him."

After suffering defeat to Arsenal in his first home game at the helm, Clement was delighted to deliver three points in his second Liberty fixture. 

"I thought the fans were fantastic and I enjoyed the atmosphere," he said.

"It went a bit quiet at times - I think the fans were nervous. But I am really pleased for the supporters. They have seen their team work really hard and execute a game plan, and two wins in a row is great for us.

"We have brought a couple of the teams who are above us a lot closer now, and certainly the table looks a lot healthier than it did three weeks ago."