Mum's the word as Carl Rushworth keeps clean sheet on milestone appearance

Carl Rushworth marked his 100th EFL appearance with a clean sheet for Swansea City, and his parents were on hand to see it as they surprised the goalkeeper at the Swansea.com Stadium.

The 22-year-old enjoyed a fourth Championship shut-out of the season, and a second in succession, as the 10-man Swans overcame playing over an hour with a numerical disadvantage to secure a goalless draw against Sunderland in SA1.

Rushworth made eye-catching stops; tipping a Patrick Roberts strike onto the post, and then adjusting superbly to nudge the ball over the bar after a deep cross had rebounded goalward off Luke O’Nien.

The England youth international’s parents - who get to Swans games when logistics allow - had made the journey down from Halifax to cheer him on as he racked up a ton of league outings, but had omitted to let Rushworth know they would be in attendance.

And he was delighted to share the moment with them, and help the Swans to a hard-earned point.

“It’s a proud moment to get to that milestone, it feels like it has come round quick, but it was far more important to help the team get a result,” he said.

“My mum and dad surprised me because I did not know they were coming to the game, I did not expect to see them so it was nice to share it with them and mark it with a clean sheet.

“I feel I have developed a lot over these 100 appearances, here and at Walsall and Lincoln.

“It’s about maturing, and I want to keep building on my work here.

“It’s been really good working with (head of goalkeeping) Martyn Margetson, I feel like I am improving and I just want to keep working hard and helping the team.”

Rushworth was also full of praise for his teammates and how they worked hard for each other to make sure they emerged with a point that means they have lost just two of their last nine Championship games.

“I think it’s a really positive result, especially after going down to 10 men,” he added.

“The lads dug deep, it was tough, but being at home we had the fans right behind us and they helped get us through to the end.

“We would have loved to have been better and done more on the ball, but we had to deal with the circumstances we found ourselves in and I thought defensively we were brilliant.

“The resilience we showed underlines that the things we work on in training are coming out, that’s two clean sheets in a row now and I could not be prouder of the defensive effort we put in.”