Vitor Matos proud of Swansea City effort in thrilling draw

Vitor Matos was proud of the effort put in by his Swansea City side after they ran themselves to a standstill in an absorbing 2-2 draw against Middlesbrough at the Swansea.com Stadium.

The hosts had trailed early on to Alex Bangura's goal in SA1, but got themselves level when Zan Vipotnik scored from the penalty spot.

The Slovenian then added a second penalty in first-half stoppage time to put the Swans ahead at the interval.

They remained in front as the final 20 minutes arrived, but eventually the spoils were shared after Tommy Conway scored a penalty of Middlesbrough's own.

The Swans have struggled to pick up results against the sides in the upper reaches of the table, but they more than played their part in a full-blooded occasion, and Matos once again felt the mentality of his squad offers a lot of positives.

"That was a game where we needed to put in a proper performance in terms of our mentality and our mindset," said the Swans boss.

"We knew we would need to stay concentrated until the last moment, defending the box really well and defending the space between the lines. I think we did that.

"With how we are, we needed the freshness from the bench as well. That was important to ensure we stay competitive, we know how Middlesbrough try to control games with the ball.

"So we needed to have a compact formation but to still be able to put them under pressure. We managed it in some moments, and in other moments we have to control that space.

"We created chances ourselves, I think it was a fair result between two teams who are in different moments.

"The commitment of the team was just insane, and that's what we need.

"We want to use this to build, and if you ask me what type of mentality I want this team to have next season, then it is this one.

"The mentality that wherever the game is, whoever we play against, we will compete."

Matos also had words of praise for Sam Parker, after the young full-back caught the eye in his first Championship start in over two years.

"I love Sam, he has a beautiful mindset and real offensive quality and pace," added Matos.

"He needs to keep improving, but he is a wonderful kid and as a club we want to have players from the academy coming through and being part of the group.

"That's what we want for the future, sometimes it is about opportunities at the right moments, and I am really happy for him."