Rodgers delighted by 'fantastic' Swansea

Brendan Rodgers praised his on-loan forward, Fabio Borini, after the Italian began his Swansea career with two goals to help the Welsh side overcome Nottingham Forest 3-2 on Saturday.

"They were finishes of top players," the Swansea manager said. "I'm really pleased for him. We were magnificent and it was a fantastic performance from the team."

Borini's goals helped Swansea record their first victory in four games and leave their promotion rivals winless in seven attempts. The on-loan Chelsea striker, who arrived earlier last week on a deal until the end of the season, coolly opened his Swans account from close range shortly after the impressive Scott Sinclair had registered his 17th league goal of the season with a sublime virtuoso effort in the 21st minute.

City were firmly in command and Italy Under-21 international Borini smashed against a post, before Kris Boyd – making his first Forest start – gave the visitors hope with a neat finish on the stroke of half-time. But it did not last long as man-of-the-match Borini capped a debut to remember with a simple second just before the hour mark. Paul Anderson put an unjust slant on the scoreline in injury time, before then heading against the woodwork as Forest came close to snatching a undeserved point.

Rodgers said: "I know what Fabio is about. He has a natural instinct to score goals but his honesty, work-rate, movement and attitude was fantastic. He's made a terrific start and you could see the reason why I have brought him to the club. Everyone can see his qualities and talent.

"His first goal was a sublime finish and the second one was wonderful because the ball came back to him quickly."

Victory was no less than Swansea deserved from a scintillating display, with a large gulf in class between them and an out-of-sorts Forest. Billy Davies admitted his side were poor. "I felt we didn't deserve anything from the game," the Forest manager said. "However, it doesn't matter where you are at the end of the March, it's where you are at the end of the season that matters.

"Experience has taught me to come into periods like this now. We have been affected by injuries but we will have some of them back after the international break. I'm extremely optimistic and excited and I believe we're at the end of our blip.

"I have reached the play-offs five times in six years... so take a grip of the wheel and hold on tight. Whoever wins in the last eight games will be in the play-offs. There's a lot still to happen."

Swansea (4-4-2): De Vries, Rangel (Monk, 77), Taylor, Tate, Williams, Sinclair, Allen, Gower, Dyer (Van der Gun, 88), Dobbie (Britton, 69), Borini. Substitutes not used Ma-Kalambay (gk), Pratley, Orlandi, Moore.

Nottingham Forest (4-4-2): Camp, Gunter, Chambers, Morgan, Konchesky (Bennett, 77), Majewski (McCleary, 46), McKenna, Cohen, Anderson, Boyd (McGoldrick, 63), Tyson. Substitutes not used Darlow (gk), Maloney, McGugan, Adebola.

Booked Konchesky, Cohen, Anderson.

Possession Swansea 57% Nott'm Forest 43%.

Shots on target Swansea 10 Nott'm Forest 6.

Match rating 8/10. Man of the match Borini.

Referee S Mathieson (Cheshire). Attendance 18,371.