Vitor Matos delighted to send travelling Jacks home happy

Swansea City head coach Vitor Matos hailed a strong all-round team performance after watching his side come from behind to win at Stoke City on the opening day of the new Championship season.

The Swans had trailed in the Potteries to Eric Bocat's improvised finish, but kept their composure to hit back through Joseph Opoku's first goal for the club, and a close-range finish from Adam Idah.

That meant the visitors won their first league game of a campaign for the first time since 2020, and secured just a third win at Stoke this century.

The three points delighted a huge 2,765-strong away following in the mid-August sunshine and, while this was only game one of 46, Matos was a very happy man.

"It's a great way to start, and it was a good game," he said.

"We had a really good performance, we made a really good start with the right mentality and controlling the game with the ball.

"We got ourselves into a lot of good positions, but then suffered when we conceded the goal from Stoke's first shot on goal.

"But we grew into the game and grabbed the game back, we got the goal through Joseph and in the second half we had spells where we need to stay stable and to stay organised and in the end it was a very mature performance but with quality too."

There were a number of important performers for the Swans. Lawrence Vigouroux made a trio of key saves, Stephen Welsh enjoyed an assured debut at centre-half, and skipper Ben Cabango made some key defensive contributions.

And Matos was keen to praise the performances of midfielders Jay Fulton and Marko Stamenic, who were outstanding in the middle of the park.

"We thought they could be an important part of the line-up," added Matos.

"We thought they may give us a little bit more security and stability in the build-up phase.

"They were both brilliant, Jay was involved in both goals and showed how much he gives to the team and how much he understands the game on and off the ball."

And Matos also had words of gratitude for the large contingent of travelling Jacks who back his team to the hilt at the bet365 Stadium.

"They were brilliant, and they are the main reason why we play games and try to put on our best possible performance," he said.

"These fans have been so important for us, their support was massive, we felt that at every moment.

"So to give them that today is something we wanted and I am really happy they can make the long journey home with smiles on their faces."