Harry Darling | We want to use this result to kick on

Harry Darling wants Swansea City to build on their victory at Sunderland by continuing to show the composure and patience that characterised their 3-1 win on Wearside.

Darling was one of only a few players in the Swans squad who had experienced the atmosphere in the the Stadium of Light before, having helped MK Dons to a 2-1 win there last season.

After a lively start, the hosts were reduced to 10 men in the 18th minute when Luke O'Nien's rash challenge on Ollie Cooper saw referee Keith Stroud produce a red card. 

That left the Swans needing to break down a stubborn Black Cats defence, and got the breakthrough when Joel Piroe got on the end of Ryan Manning's looping cross.

Dan Neil scored from close range to level matters, but Liam Cullen was in the right place at the right time to turn the ball in shortly before Cooper made it three with just over 10 minutes remaining.

“It was really good performance,” said Darling.

“It obviously helped us when they went down to 10 men, but it was still a test for us to break them down.

“I felt like maybe we should have got that first goal earlier, but it was a good win away from home because not many teams will do that here.

“The home fans are so good here and there’s so many of them and once they can get it going it can be a really tough atmosphere to play in.

“I thought we dealt with that well, we moved the ball and that overall it was a good performance.

“It was just up to us to be patient and break them down and we did that.

“We’re such a young group, I’m not sure if many of these players have played here before but it’s a tough place to come and not many teams will win here.”

Although there were plenty of positives from the game, Darling feels there are still plenty of things to work on for the young Swans team as they aim to keep improving game-by-game and climb the table.

“It’s a good three points, but there’s still stuff to work on like the goal for me personally,” he added.

“I thought we showed good character as a team, we did let them back into it, but the way we bounced back and got the second and third was testament to the boys.

“The table is so tight. We knew that this game was a chance to go level with Sunderland and catch the group up a bit. This league is so crazy that one result changes everyone so we just need to use this game and kick on now.”