Curtis: Swansea players showed different side to their game
Alan Curtis says Swansea City showed a different side to their game in the 1-0 victory over West Brom.
The win was the Swans’ first under caretaker manager Curtis and took them out of the bottom three.
Ki Sung-yueng’s bundled ninth-minute winner came from a free-flowing attack, but Swansea were pushed back and had to scrap for their first home win since beating Manchester United at the end of August.
“We can play better and we have played better in the last couple of games,” Curtis said after Swansea’s first win in eight.
“But we showed a different side to our game, the boys blocked crosses, blocked shots and worked unbelievably hard.
“I said before the game that as much as we want to maintain our style, we have to find a way to win as well.
“We were under the cosh and it wasn’t pretty, it was a bit un-Swansea-like but we showed enough to get over the line.”
The final whistle was greeted with an outpouring of relief from home supporters and Curtis later singled out midfield veteran Leon Britton for praise.
Britton did not feature this season until the closing weeks of Garry Monk’s reign but has proved a stabilising influence in Curtis’ three games in charge, which have yielded four points.
“Leon was outstanding and he’s been so fundamental to this team for the last 10 or 11 years,” Curtis said.
“I think he’s coming up two games short of 500 and he’s been a fantastic player for the club.
“We’ve seen those performances year-in and year-out and part of the reason I took him off near the end was for the crowd to show appreciation and give us another lift again.”