It certainly wasn’t pretty from the Swans who looked a little off-colour on a difficult night in Staffordshire. After two energy-sapping long trips in three days four points from six will be seen as a good return from the caretaker head coach.
Despite having the lion’s share of possession there would be little to separate the two sides in the match. It would be the visitors however, who would strike first to take the lead in the 70th minute after Darling was adjudged to have brought down Stoke midfielder Lyndon Gooch in the penalty area.
Potters front-man Daniel Johnson sent Swans keeper Carl Rushworth the wrong way with a neat spot-kick to seemingly look like giving the home side the three points.
The Swans though rallied and with just a minute left on the clock equalised through Darling, nodding in Matt Grimes’ corner to rescue a point to take back to South Wales.
“It’s not the performance we wanted to put in by any means, but I’m really proud of the resilience, character and desire that they showed,” said Sheehan.
“Football-wise we have a lot of things to do, we all know that there is no hiding away from that.
“We weren’t as fluent as we wanted to be. I think we played through the lines at times and supported the attack well at the start of the game, but then they started pressing with more and more men.
“We tried to force it and chase it and I made a few changes to try and control the tempo of the game.
“They made five changes from the weekend and have a strong squad of Championship players, but we would have liked to have hurt them in different ways tonight and we relied on big moments.
“Out of possession they grafted and worked hard. It was an end-to-end game. They have lost their manager, and you could see they had a new lease of life.
“Character-wise, the resilience and the togetherness that the players showed to get that point though is good. It’s four points out of six on the road in the Championship.
“I felt we needed a big moment to spur us on tonight if I’m honest. I’m pleased with the application and the desire to keep on going.
“There was Pato’s [Jamie Paterson] chance and Harry’s at the end. We got into good positions in the first-half but we were let down by our quality.
“That isn’t taking away from how they stuck together and grounded it out. It’s two games in three days and to get a point in the end is a good point.”
[Lead image: Swansea City FC]
