Alan Sheehan praised Swansea City’s resilience after Zan Vipotnik’s dramatic 96th-minute equaliser secured a hard-fought draw at Leeds United.
The Swans fell behind within 40 seconds as Brenden Aaronson struck early, and despite missing a penalty and hitting the post in the first half, they battled back through Harry Darling’s close-range finish.
Leeds looked to have snatched victory when Wilfried Gnonto fired home late on, but Swansea refused to lie down. Joe Allen’s pinpoint pass set up Vipotnik, who kept his composure to fire into the bottom corner and earn a deserved point.
Sheehan was full of praise for his side’s character and quality, as they stood toe-to-toe with a promotion-chasing Leeds team at Elland Road.
“I feel like a point was the least we deserved for how we performed,” said the Swans boss in the post-match press conference.
“To start the game the way we did was disappointing, and I let the players know that at half-time, because we know if you do that at Elland Road the place can get on top of you.
“But the players showed great character and we controlled most of the rest of that first half.
“We missed the penalty, we hit the post, we had chances and we were dangerous with what we wanted to do.
“Obviously we scored after the break, but then they got the goal – we had a man switch off – but we kept going.
“We talk about character, desire and application, and the players were just so determined to work hard for the badge.
“That was the message beforehand, you cannot do anything individually at a place like this, you have to do it as a collective and I am so, so proud of the players.
“We watched 10 of their games. Knowing what they want to do and stopping it are two different things. We had to stand off as the spaces become too big with the individuals they have.”
“The best thing we could do was limit the spaces and be aggressive. I think we were tactically spot on.”
Here is the full post-match reaction from interim head coach Alan Sheehan:
Feature Image Credit: Swansea City Football Club