Swansea City almost safe as Key's stunner lights up demolition job, but it's not job done for Alan Sheehan

Swansea eased their way to a comfortable 3-0 win over Plymouth Argyle on Wednesday night

There's still some way to go, but for Swansea City this felt like a decisive step in their efforts to cement their Championship survival for another season.

If we're being honest, the threat of sinking into League One has always remained within the realms of jittery, rather than outright panic, but the very fact it ever even entered the conversation when examining the narrative of this season says a fair bit about how this campaign has gone.

But after a couple of concerning blips, Swansea are on course for finishing on a high under interim boss Alan Sheehan, who made three changes from the eye-gougingly dull tussle with Derby County on Saturday. Sign up to our Swansea City newsletter here.

Having plodded out the blocks against the Rams, Swansea wasted little time in asserting themselves here, against a Plymouth Argyle side that now look almost certain to be dropping down into the third tier.

Headers from Lewis O'Brien and Harry Darling set Swansea on their way in a first half that, aside from a stunning save from Lawrence Vigouroux to keep out Adam Randell's freekick, they largely dominated.

Josh Key added a third with a stunning strike from 25 yards, and while Zan Viptonik spurned several good chances to boost Swansea's goal difference, victory never felt in doubt.

Trio shine bright - but what comes next?

It took 69 minutes for O'Brien to muster up Swansea's first shot of the game against Derby, but he needed just four to get on the scoresheet here.

Ronald did brilliantly to get the better of Mumba with a surging run down the right, and his curling cross landed perfectly for the Nottingham Forest loanee to nod home.

The 26-year-old's hugely successful loan spell is perhaps the one major positive from what was otherwise a desperately disappointing January window, and his stock only continues to rise.

This was not only his first Swansea goal, but also his first in English football since scoring for Forest against Fulham in September 2022, and capped another wonderful performance on the night.

There are more than a few here that would surely like to keep him on board for next season. Whether that's at all possible, however, remains to be seen.

Incidentally, the same can be said for Darling, who rose brilliantly to meet Eom Jisung's freekick on 22 minutes and pick up his fourth goal of the season.

Having also racked up three assists this term, it's clear the centre-back's importance to this side goes beyond his impressive defensive abilities, a fact that won't be lost on his representatives should Swansea wish to ramp up negotiations for a new deal in the coming weeks.

Then there's Joe Allen, who made his first start since the South Wales derby defeat in January, and put in a fairly solid performance alongside the typically excellent Goncalo Franco, before being replaced just after the hour.

Another out of contract this summer, his mini renaissance since that high-profile error on Wales duty in the last international break has seen the subject of his own future veer into view.

Duo struggle on return as Key hits stunner

Matthew Sorinola and Michael Obafemi were once Swansea team-mates during the Russell Martin days, and both enjoyed, at times, reasonable success.

But any fears the pair might cause their former employers problems here were grossly misplaced, as both turned in fairly anonymous performances in the face of a dominant Swans showing.

Obafemi was hooked at half-time, having made fewer touches than a largely untroubled Vigouroux in the Swans goal, while Sorinola's poor pass 10 minutes before the break was seized upon by Allen, who helped the ball on for Franco to feed Key out wide.

The full-back then looked up, spotted Plymouth goalkeeper Conor Hazard and produced a stunning strike from 25 yards to effectively kill the game off as a contest.

Job done? Not if Sheehan really sees himself as a contender

It's not mathematically confirmed, of course, but with the gap between Swansea and the relegation zone now standing at nine points after this victory, it feels pretty safe to assume that Championship football has been secured for another season.

Interim boss Sheehan will likely be reluctant for eyes to drift too far towards next term, and will be well aware that his future will soon come into even sharper focus over the coming weeks.

Sheehan's persistence in focusing purely on football has clearly been one of the key cornerstones in this mini revival, which has so far yielded 14 points, a tally that has taken them past the 50-point mark that many consider to be the benchmark for Championship survival.

But if Sheehan's hopes of landing the job long-term are to keep growing, he probably feels he can't quite take his foot off the gas just yet.

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Home comforts and case for the defence strengthens Sheehan's bid

At the heart of Swansea's progress under their interim boss has been an increasingly impressive home record.

This was Swansea's fourth home win in five under the Irishman, a record that looks all the better given the Swans had previously only won three of their last 10.

Similarly, Sheehan has found a way to inject a mean streak back into his side's backline, overseeing an impressive run of five clean sheets in these eight games, two shy of the tally they'd mustered before he took over.

Those numbers, combined with results themselves, are making it increasingly difficult to dismiss his status as a real contender right now.

Ratings

Swansea City: Vigouroux 7; Key 8 (Naughton 82' 6), Cabango 7, Darling 8, Tymon 7; Allen 7 (Fulton 63'), Franco 8 (Cooper 76'); Ronald 8 (Bianchini 76'), O'Brien 8, Eom 8 (S. Parker 82' 6); Vipotnik 6

Subs n/u: McLaughlin, Cullen, Christie, Delcroix