Josh Key vows to keep putting in the hard yards after first Swansea City goal

Josh Key insists he will keep putting in the hard yards for Swansea City after his lung-bursting effort allowed him to seal victory at Plymouth Argyle with his first goal for the club.

The 23-year-old has made a fine start to his time with the Swans, impressing with his energy on the flanks.

And his work-rate was in evidence once again when, with the visitors leading 2-1 at Home Park in the 90th minute, he set off on a run from the edge of his own box to try and offer support to Jamie Paterson in a counter-attack.

Key’s run took him beyond the covering defenders, and a magnificent pass from Paterson was steered across goalkeeper Conor Hazard and into the net.

It sealed a fourth win in a row for Swansea, who have now taken 13 points from the last 15 available.

Key is pleased with how the Swans have responded following a tough start, and – as a former Exeter player – also enjoyed getting one over on his old club’s local rivals into the bargain.

“That was a great way to cap it off,” said Key of his goal.

“(Matt) Grimes and myself are from Exeter and Plymouth are their rivals, so you do want to do well here.

“To score the goal and celebrate it with our fans is a moment I will remember for a very long time.

“I hope I did the fans here proud, I am not sure where I found the energy from, to be honest.

“But that has always been part of my game. I will always try and find it in me to do those extra yards, and I will keep doing so.

“I might have regretted it had I not scored! But when you make those runs, you have to think of the rewards for making them.

“When I saw Pato running up the pitch you know the quality he has, and the way he picked me out with that pass was just unreal and I just had to pass it in. I think I almost surprised myself, but thankfully it went in.”

Key, his teammates, head coach Michael Duff and the coaching staff all celebrated the win with a sold-out away end of over 1,600 Swans fans in Devon.

The defender feels the unity between those in the stands and those on the pitch and in the dugout can be key for Swansea moving forward.

But he also praised the mentality the squad have shown to overcome a tough start to the campaign.

“We need to be together and we showed that unity by celebrating together,” said Key.

“It has been a tough couple of months and it has been frustrating.

“We have had to try and find it within us to stay consistent in our mentality, and I think one of the biggest things about this team is its mentality.

“It has been driven from the top and the lads have been fantastic, everyone has really pushed each other.

“These four wins are not an accident, this has been coming because even when we were not winning games, that togetherness was there."