Garry Monk has insisted that Swansea City are ready to chase down the Premier League's top teams after their 1-0 win away to Hull City on Saturday.
A Swans team showing seven changes bounced back from consecutive losses with victory at the KC Stadium, courtesy of Ki Sung-Yueng's deflected strike.
Monk was pleased with the defensive quality and resilience displayed by some of his fringe players, but valued the three points above all as they kept pace with Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur above them.
"We defended extremely well I can't really remember them having a clear-cut chance," he told reporters.
"It was always going to be tough to get the flowing football we wanted but when you look at the chances we created we could have had a few more goals. Three points is the most important thing.
"The players that came in had to be resilient when they have not had as many games as some other players but they dug in. We don't want to be looking over our shoulders but hunting the teams in front of us."
Swansea are eighth in the table, six points adrift of the top four, ahead of the visit of Aston Villa on Boxing Day.
Joe Fish
