Shelvey's delight with stunning strike

1st February

Jonjo Shelvey hopes his stunning matchwinner against Southampton will be enough to keep him in Garry Monk's starting plans.

The England international stunned St Mary's after he surged forward before firing into the top corner from 20 yards to earn the Swans their first league win of 2015 - and a first victory over Southampton in the Barclays Premier League.

Monk was already without Ki Sung-Yueng, who was away on international duty, along with the injured Leon Britton and suspended Gylfi Sigurdsson.

It left Shelvey linking up with Jay Fulton, who made only his second league start for the club, and Tom Carroll in midfield against a Southampton side chasing Champions League qualification.

And Shelvey, who had struck the post before his superb goal, hopes his efforts will see him become a regular starter under Monk.



"I've not had much luck lately on the pitch, so it was nice to score a fantastic goal to win the game," said the 22-year-old.

"I've had my critics recently and a lot of doubters, but I'm glad to be back in the team and I've got to show the manager why I should stay in it.

"Last season I played a big part, but this season has been stop-start for me. I feel like I can contribute to the team with goals like that.

"I hope to get more goals. I've been told to shoot a lot more - I feel we are trying to walk the ball in the net sometimes - but if I've got the ability I might as well give it a go.

"It won't be easy to keep my place because we have top players like Ki and Gylfi coming back.

"It was an important goal in my career because of the situation we were in before this game."



Of the performance, Shelvey added: "We started very slow but the gaffer said at half-time that the game would open up in the second half.

"He was right and we executed the manager's gameplan perfectly.

"Everyone could see the team spirit at the end - we all dug in to keep the three points.

"All the boys were delighted, and the reaction of the supporters for both the goal and at the final whistle just shows how much this club means to them all."