Monk delighted with second-half display

Garry Monk believes his Swansea City side’s 2-0 Premier League victory over Stoke City was fully deserved following a dominant second-half display.

A drab first half passed by largely without incident, but Jefferson Montero – scoring his first goal for the club – and substitute Ki Sung-yueng settled matters at the Liberty Stadium with efforts either side of a red card for Stoke’s Marc Wilson. 

The result boosts Swansea’s chances of bettering their previous best finish of ninth, having already surpassed their record points total with victory at Newcastle United last weekend.

“I’m very pleased,” Monk is quoted as saying by BBC Sport. “We controlled the whole game.

“I think we were playing at 70 per cent in the first half. Our tempo was slow. I had words with the players at half-time and, in the second half, we were excellent.

“The goals we got were thoroughly deserved, and we’re on our way to consolidating our top-10 place.

“The feeling can be that you get safe and that’s the job done. It’s about getting the players to want more than that.

“The key is pushing and demanding higher standards, and the players do that for themselves as well.

“I’ll have to reassess our target for the remainder of the season. I keep setting a new one every week.

“In the games left, it’s about focusing again. I don’t want the players to fall below the standards they’ve set.”