Bersant Celina typifies the resilience of Swansea City’s comeback kids, according to their manager Graham Potter.
Celina was left out of the starting line-up to face Sheffield Wednesday but came off the bench to score one goal and then create the winner in Saturday’s 2-1 win.
The victory has lifted the Swans to ninth place in the Championship table – just four points off the play-off places. After three successive defeats, Potter’s side have shown their resourcefulness by winning back-to-back matches to re-ignite hopes they can climb back into top six contention over the festive period.
“It was great for Bersant to come on and score and turn the game around for us,” said Potter about his Kosovan midfielder.
“We played him a little bit deeper. Connor’s (Roberts) cut-back was really good and it was a fantastic finish and then he was positive.
“That’s the bit he needs to get into his game more regularly. But it was a great impact.
“It’s not the first time we’ve had subs come on and help us. It’s an indication of the group we’ve got. Lads are disappointed not to play but they’re ready to help the team.
“As a team, it shows there’s a mentality to recover from setbacks, recover from mistakes.
“It’s fantastic for the players and the supporters. It was a pretty awful afternoon in terms of weather. The support was great for us. They stuck with us and helped us.
“Overall, in that type of afternoon there’s going to be a couple of mistakes. Maybe there was a little bit of that in the first goal and it got nervy for a few minutes but I thought overall we deserved the victory.
“In the end, I’m really proud of the players’ effort, togetherness and character, and also really proud of the supporters because it was an awful day but they were fantastic.”
It looked as if the Owls were going to claim their first away win for more than two months when Marco Matias punished Joe Rodon for a defensive error after 63 minutes.
But Celina played a key role as two goals in a minute from the substitute and Wayne Routledge turned the match in Swansea’s favour to pile more pressure on Wednesday manager Jos Luhukay.
Both sides had to wrestle with conditions early on as the match got under way amidst swirling wind and driving rain.
Routledge, who marked his first start of the season with a goal inside 40 seconds last week, looked keen to build on his clinical comeback by troubling the Owls defence.
He had already made some incisive runs down his right wing before he latched on to a flick-on from Oli McBurnie and dragged a shot just wide of the post.
For all their possession, Swansea almost went behind when they switched off at the back and let Lucas Joao get the wrong side of Leroy Fer in the Swans’ penalty area.
The Portuguese striker had a clear sight at Erwin Mulder’s goal, but let the Swans off the hook with a shot that flew wide.
After weathering the Swansea storm in the first half, Wednesday gave themselves an opportunity to claim a rare away win after 63 minutes.
Rodon had got away with a defensive error when Joao curled a shot wide of the upright, but he was punished when he gave the ball away cheaply for a second time on the edge of his own box.
The 21-year-old was robbed of possession by Matias, who kept his cool to drill a shot post Mulder into the back of the net.
A goal & assist… Bersant Celina has a message for the #JackArmy.
More from today’s game on our @instagram https://t.co/QUqmAnxBGj pic.twitter.com/T5m1gxlU97
— Swansea City AFC (@SwansOfficial) December 15, 2018
However, the inspired introduction of Celina after 66 minutes turned the game in Swansea’s favour.
The former Manchester City academy graduate produced a composed finish to level the scores after 71 minutes after Barrie McKay slipped Roberts in behind the defence to make the final pass.
Then, less than a minute later Celina picked up the ball in the middle of the pitch and lifted an inch-perfect pass over the defence for Routledge to chase.
The 33-year-old took the ball in his stride and fired a low shot through the legs of Cameron Dawson and into the back of the net to complete the comeback.