Saturday 22 April 2017 18:24, UK
Paul Clement declared the battle for survival was well and truly alive after Swansea boosted their hopes of avoiding relegation with victory over Stoke.
With Clement correctly predicting relegation rivals Hull would beat Watford, the Swans could ill-afford to drop points against the Potters.
And there was to be no slip up from Swansea as goals from Fernando Llorente and Tom Carroll - either side of Marko Arnautovic's missed penalty - sealed a crucial 2-0 win.
Swansea now have four games left to bridge the two-point gap to Hull and secure their top-flight status, and Clement insists the race is on.
"Hull have won again today and if we hadn't the gap would have gone to five points with four games left, and that would have made things very difficult for us," he told Sky Sports.
"It's a very important win, the gap stays the same but, more importantly, we put in a good performance and deserved to win.
"We rode our luck a little, especially when they were awarded a penalty, but it's game on for the next four games now.
"I'm very happy we were able to play well and win, especially after some of our recent performances. We knew we had to start well and give our fans something to cheer about. They were absolutely fantastic.
"Our form at home has been good, we are confident playing here, we know the fans are behind us and we're glad we sent them away today having won."
The course of the game at the Liberty Stadium hinged on a 60-second spell which saw Arnautovic blaze a penalty over before Carroll's deflected effort doubled Swansea's lead.
Clement admitted his team were a touch fortunate but believed their effort and application was rewarded.
"The margins at this level are so fine," Clement added. "We've had things go against us but today maybe we were a little fortunate, scoring so soon after Stoke missed a penalty.
"Although Carroll's goal was a wonderful strike it does take a deflection on its way into the top corner.
"We've had our fair share of bad luck the effort and application of the players was great."
