Matt Grimes | We’ve built strong foundations for next season

Matt Grimes hopes Swansea City’s strong end to the season will stand them in good stead ahead of the 2023-24 campaign.

Russell Martin's team ended the season unbeaten over their final nine games, and Swansea and Luton were the only Championship sides to go unbeaten through April and May.

But the Swans picked up four more points than the play-off bound Hatters in that period and topped the division’s form table. The Swans also outscored the competition, finding the back of the net 17 times in those nine matches.

It was a run of results and performances which saw them climb from 16th to 10th in the table, and close the gap to the play-offs from 14 points to just three when the regular season came to an end.

And a season full of ups and downs came to a typically dramatic conclusion on Monday with top-scorer Joel Piroe bagging his 20th of the season to secure a victory over West Bromwich Albion with the last kick of the campaign.

It was a game in which the Swans had trailed twice but after fighting to get back on level terms with goals from Luke Cundle and Olivier Ntcham, the Dutch striker rounded off another sensational goalscoring season for the Swans by securing three points.

In many ways it was a performance which summed up the Swans' superb end to the season, and captain Grimes hopes it can prove the catalyst for a positive summer and 2023-24 season.

“We’re so proud of that run, especially when you consider the place we came from before that and the run of form we'd been on,” said Grimes.

“It’s a testament to the lads and staff for sticking together, sticking to our principles, and it all came good.

“I feel like we deserved that moment on Monday. It’s been a long, hard season full of ups and downs – probably the most emotional season I’ve been a part of, but we played well against West Brom and deserved three points.”

More than 20,000 members of the Jack Army were on hand at the Swansea.com Stadium to back the Swans and the skipper feels the connection between supporters and team is key.

“All the support we can get, the better,” he added.

“I think the fans have recognised what we’ve been doing recently and wanted to come to support us on the last day of the season, and thankfully we were able to give them something to cheer about.

“I think we’ve shown all season that we can mix it with the best in the league and this run has given us a lot of confidence.

"It’s all about building momentum going into next season and I don’t think we could have done that any better really with the results and performances.

“We’ll regroup, recharge and be ready to go. I think everyone can see the way we’ve been playing and the courage and bravery we’ve been showing.

"Hopefully we’ll take this momentum forward and start next season strongly.”