Swansea manager Michael Laudrup was relieved that his side overcame their nerves in the 1-0 Capital One Cup quarter-final win over Middlesbrough.
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The Swans progressed to the semi-finals courtesy of an 81st-minute Seb Hines own-goal. However, it was not easy going for the Welsh outfit who were clearly nervous, especially in the fist half.
But after the interval, they adopted a more relaxed approach which paid dividends in the end.
And Laudrup is pleased with the fact they managed to win their cup games despite not always playing well.
"It was a very tight game," the Dane said. "It wasn't a brilliant game to watch for the neutral, but it was a tight cup game.
"Everybody had the right attitude, everybody wanted to win, but I think they wanted it too much (in the first half). When you want something too badly, you can't do exactly what you usually do.
"Middlesbrough put pressure on us, but in the second half we came out and played much, much better. We were more relaxed and took control of the game.
"It wasn't a game with a lot of great chances. At Crawley earlier in the competition, we were 2-1 down and won in the last minute, and the Liverpool game was tight. It happens a lot in cup games."
The last-four tie will see them face either Bradford, Aston Villa or the winner of Chelsea and Leeds in only the third semi-final appearance of Swansea's history, and just their first since 1964.
"It's fantastic to reach a semi-final," Laudrup continued.
"I asked all the players before the game if any of them had played in a cup final, and no-one had.
"When you are three games from a final you get tense, and that is what we saw tonight.
"Everyone can be proud we are in the semi-finals, but when you are there you want to go the next step and be in the final. Whoever we play next, it will be very special."
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