Cooper | We showed resilience and pride

Steve Cooper felt resilience and pride had been key factors in Swansea City's latest comeback victory at the Liberty Stadium against Preston.

The head coach saw the Swans fall behind for the third time in three home games under his command, and for the third time they were able to turn things around and claim victory and an entertaining five-goal encounter.

The hosts had trailed to Joe Rafferty’s early strike as Preston took control of proceedings, and the Swans were fortunate to be level at the break as Borja Baston swept home Connor Roberts’ pull-back from their first meaningful effort on goal.

Cooper’s men were vastly improved after the break and took the lead when George Byers steered home, before Daniel Johnson levelled from the spot after Roberts fouled Sean Maguire.

But the Swans responded again as Borja headed Jake Bidwell’s cross into the far corner, and Cooper was happy with the second-half showing.

“It was a good win, and we have to be happy with the three points,” he said.

“That’s always the main objective of any league game, but we made tough work of it, there is no doubt about that.

“The players know that in the first half we were not at the level we strive to be at.

“We gave the ball away cheaply, we did not press intensely enough and allowed Preston – who we knew were a strong team – to build momentum, score a goal and control large parts of the game.

“We got to about 35-40 minutes, and I would have been happy to come in 1-0 down and sort a few things out.

“So to equalise just before was a good thing. The players knew we had to improve – we did not rant and rave, those days are gone – we talked about how we could do that, and we did.

“We scored some excellent goals, with some really good play while showing good resilience, character and pride for the football club.

“It’s three points and we move on.”