Defensive Performance Delights Rodgers

Swansea City manager Brendan Rodgers said he was delighted with his side's defensive performance in yesterday's 0-0 draw at Newcastle United.

It was far from a great performance from the Swans, despite Rodgers' praise. Newcastle dominated the first half whilst they did show improvement after the break.

It was an important point and it was encouraging to see us keep a clean sheet away from home - our 8th overall in the Premier League this season.

Rodgers said his side coped well with the set pieces, as Newcastle had plenty of opportunities to get crosses into the box with the amount of corners and free-kicks they won:

"That`s an incredible achievement for us - and this one has come from a fantastic performance and says everything about our team ethic and hard work.



It gets rid of the myth that we can`t defend and we`re only all about passing. To come here to such a difficult ground after the start to the season Newcastle have had is terrific.

"And it was almost a perfect away performance. We restricted them and then could have nicked something. We kept the clean sheet and then got into the game, got into some good areas and nearly got a goal that we would have deserved after we picked the rhythm of the game up.

"We didn`t get the win but if you can`t do that, you make sure you don`t lose and we did that."

"But we coped, we stopped the crosses and tactically we were better in the second-half. Our positioning wasn`t as good as it can be in the first-half and we got a bit too excited on the ball but we showed great resilience and concentration after the break. It is a terrific point for us."

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