In the first game since the departure of Luke Williams, the Swans rallied showing heart and desire to convincingly beat their Lancashire opponents.
First-half goals from Zan Vipotnik and Myles Peart-Harris set the tone before Sheehan’s side laid an onslaught on the Rovers defense adding a third through Liam Cullen.
There could have been more as Rovers failed to deal with a confident attacking display producing a wealth of chances with Josh Tymon, Viponik and Gonçalo Franco going close to extending the lead.
It would be a far cry from the latter part of the Williams era where goals had become hard to come by, whilst on the day, an interestingly new-found physicality in the Swans midfield surprised the visitors.
Dogged and lung-busting performances from Franco and Lewis O’Brien stood out as Sheehan would later comment in “doing the basics well” by breaking up play and starting attacks.
This would be all part of the meticulous planning of Sheehan whose tactics on the day would be spot on against a strong Rovers team. The former Luton coach though would only have time to give credit to his playing staff.
“Give all the praise to the players. Today was a pleasing performance, the players were excellent today,” said Sheehan after the match.
“We’ve had a really difficult start to the week losing Luke [Williams] and Ryan [Harley].
“It was about giving everyone their opportunity to have that disappointment, but you have to channel it into some positive energy.
“We were playing a top-six team and with what we have, we thought this was the game plan to go into the match and the lads have carried it out really well.
“I was up at four o’clock this morning and looking at in-game changes and scenarios and there are a lot.
“I wanted to make sure everything was ok, and all the detail was right for the players so they could go and express themselves.
“I have earned myself a Pepsi Max tonight now. That’s about how exciting it gets for me.
“We’ve all come under a lot of scrutiny. In the world that we live in people can say whatever they want to you when you go into elite sport. Sometimes the only way you can respond is on a Saturday.
“There are a lot of bridges that have to be built, but Rome wasn’t built in a day. Today is a day for the fans to show the players love and vice-versa and that’s the way it should be.
“I’m not going to be a referee on certain things at this football club. My job is to get the team ready.
“We talked about physicality and doing the basics of the game really well and what it means to be a Swansea City player – go show the fans and they responded well to that.
“I thought we were incredibly resilient and physical; we weren’t bullied at all which is important. We gave ourselves a chance to show the quality that we have. If you don’t do the basics well in this division, you have no chance.
“This is the Championship though, you can be wonderful and concede set pieces, etc. But you have to find a way to win different games.
“We wanted to give the players the freedom to show their quality in the final third. We had a number of chances and potentially could have had more.
“We can’t be greedy. A clean sheet, three goals and a resilient performance that builds character is important and I’m really happy with that.”
[Lead image: Swansea City FC]
