Alan Sheehan: Swansea will not take their foot off the gas after Plymouth win

Phil Blanche, PA

Alan Sheehan says Swansea will not ease up despite reaching the 50-point mark usually associated with staying in the Sky Bet Championship.

Swansea brushed aside bottom club Plymouth 3-0 with first-half goals from Lewis O’Brien, Harry Darling and Josh Key.

The Swans moved up one place to 14th and, on 51 points with five games to play, are now nine points clear of the relegation zone.

Caretaker boss Sheehan said: “Are we safe? I don’t know. It’s hard to know.

“I don’t really look there. We want to chase teams and be the best version of ourselves.

“I don’t think you can say that complacency is a word you can associate with this group of players.”

Asked whether he saw the 50-point mark as a guarantee for survival, Sheehan said: “I suppose it is to an extent. It’s a good achievement from where we were.

“But now it’s about getting to the next level. We’ve jumped another place, the challenge is always to finish as high as you can.”

Sheehan has taken 14 points from eight league games since taking over following the departure of Luke Williams in February.

He said: “It is an outstanding return. Very pleased with the performance as that’s as complete as you can potentially hope for.

“Some of our play was top, top level. People keep asking ‘What does an Alan Sheehan team look like?’ and I think you’ve seen how adaptable we are.

“We put in a proper performance, really fast attacking. Aggressive as hell all over the pitch and another clean sheet.”

Plymouth remain rock bottom five points from safety and face an enormous task to stay in the division.

After Saturday’s visit from third-placed Sheffield United, Plymouth face trips to Middlesbrough and Preston and home games against Coventry and Leeds.

Pilgrims boss Miron Muslic said: “The game was done in the first half. It was very tough after a strong team performance against Norwich (Plymouth won 2-1).

“Every time we have an opportunity to move closer and take a big step we can’t. Every time we prepare to make the next step after a good performance we disappear.

“That’s why I’m disappointed and why we are in this situation. Every opponent is capable of realising the moment, and every time we have the chance to do this we simply give it away.

“I know the difficulty of this task but it’s possible. We have to win (against) Sheffield United.”