Swansea manager Michael Laudrup eyes Capital One Cup success after dramatic victory over Crawley Town

Swansea were nearly embarrassed by Crawley (GETTY IMAGES)

Michael Laudrup described the Capital One Cup as a “very important” part of Swansea's season after they booked their place in the fourth round with a 3-2 victory over Crawley Town.

Trailing 2-1 at one stage, they finally saw off their npower League One opponents with a 90th-minute goal from Gary Monk, who nodded home Wayne Routledge's corner.

It ended Swansea's two-match losing streak and, just as importantly for manager Laudrup, keeps alive a genuine chance of winning silverware.

"The more games we have the better it is for everyone because you never know what can happen in the cup," Laudrup said.

"You get through one round, then the second and third. Suddenly you're in a quarter-final.

"Especially for smaller clubs like us, this cup is very important.

"It's the same for smaller clubs like Crawley. It's important to them and that's why the games are tight and sometimes you see some huge surprises."

Successive defeats by Aston Villa and Everton had left Laudrup demanding a reaction and he felt his players had answered in the correct manner.

"It's good to get that win. When you lose more than one game it's really important to get back on track and get that feeling of a win," he said.

"To win and do it the way we did, coming back after going 2-1 down, it was good to see that reaction.

"I was worrying that we'd have to go into extra time, which wouldn't have been so good."

Goals from Josh Simpson and Hope Akpan overhauled a 27th-minute opener from Michu, putting Crawley on course for a shock victory.

But Swansea responded through Danny Graham, in the 74th minute, and Monk to ensure an embarrassing evening was avoided.

Crawley manager Richie Barker was proud of his side's performance and knew they had gone close to securing a famous scalp.

He said: "I thought at 2-1 the next goal was important. We wanted the daylight and you need that against a Premier League club.

"We have lost out to the odd goal to Manchester United, Stoke and now Swansea. We are getting closer as we are scoring against them.

"The pleasing thing is the performance again."

PA