Bafetimbi Gomis: Garry Monk lauds striker's 'fantastic effort'

Swansea City manager Garry Monk says striker Bafetimbi Gomis' winning goal at Aston Villa was a reward for the Frenchman's hard work.

Gomis's late goal in the 1-0 Premier League win was his sixth of the season since joining from Lyon in June 2014.

It was also his first goal since fainting on the pitch during the game at Tottenham on 4 March.

"Bafe's commitment and effort is fantastic and he's very confident," Monk said.

"Strikers always need goals - they'll always be judged on goals.

"Once they get a couple of goals it starts to go on a roll.

Gomis scored his second Premier League goal of 2015 in the win at Aston Villa

"That will do Bafe the world of good but I'm not focused on that with him, I'm focused on his commitment, effort and quality he puts on the pitch.

"I thought he did that fantastically."

Gomis, who has a pre-existing medical condition that appears to make him susceptible to fainting, collapsed in the first half of the 3-2 league defeat by Spurs, but returned in the home loss against Liverpool.

Swansea responded to the defeats at Spurs and Liverpool with a late win at relegation threatened Villa which saw them reach 43 points for the season.

The Swans are 11 points adrift of the European spots but Monk says they have all to play for in their remaining eight games of the season.

"A lot of people will be questioning what we have to play for - we're not going to get relegated and we're not fighting for Europe," Monk said.

"But that showed the character, focus and spirit in the squad that we continue to fight and push.

"We did that very well in the second half."