Matos moves aside to give players the plaudits

Published48 minutes ago

Vitor Matos says he wanted Swansea City's players to take the plaudits after leaving them to savour the moment after an emphatic victory over Blackburn Rovers.

Swansea bounced back from their shock 5-0 loss at Queens Park Rangers last weekend by handing out a thrashing of their own at the Swansea.com Stadium.

Stephen Eustaquio, Joseph Opoku, Filip Lissah and Ross Stewart all found the target as Swansea thumped an in-form Blackburn side 4-0.

After the game, Matos acknowledged the home crowd before swiftly heading down the tunnel rather than celebrating as he normally does in front of the East Stand.

The Swansea head coach explained that it was a deliberate attempt to ensure his team took the credit for their biggest win of the season.

"I think after last week, more than for me, this was for them," Matos said.

Stylish Swansea romp to victory over Blackburn

Stylish Swansea romp to victory over Blackburn

"They needed to have that feeling. They needed to have that moment.

"The responsibility is always mine when we don't win, but when we win, they need to get that feeling, and that's what I wanted: for them to have the connection with the fans."

Questions had been asked of Swansea after the Rangers mauling, which came on the back of a home defeat to West Ham United.

But they responded in emphatic fashion by dismantling a Blackburn side who arrived in Wales on the back of four wins in their previous six games.

"We have a lot of players with really good character, a lot of players with a squad full of really good human beings," Matos added.

"I think that's the most important thing for us, to have these types of players who really care about where they are, really care about the team, really care about each other, really care about the club.

"That's what we try to build, and when you have this kind of answer after what happened last week, you can see that."

Swansea, who are second in the table after leaders Middlesbrough beat Charlton, are back in action at Portsmouth on Tuesday.

The Swans will assess the fitness of Eustaquio, one of several standout performers against Blackburn, who left the pitch late on complaining of a groin issue.

Matos will hope to have Marko Stamenic back in his squad at Fratton Park after the New Zealand international missed out against Rovers because of a virus.

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