Gylfi Sigurdsson praised the character of his Swansea team-mates after they recovered from letting a two-goal lead slip to beat Liverpool 3-2 at Anfield.

The Swans, who were bottom of the table going into the game, took a 2-0 lead through two Fernando Llorente goals before a Roberto Firmino brace pulled the hosts back.

However, Sigurdsson was on hand to slot past Simon Mignolet in the 74th minute to cap off a frantic second half – providing Swansea with their first league victory at Liverpool and serving a severe title blow to Jurgen Klopp’s side.

Speaking to BT Sport, the Iceland midfielder said: “After being 2-0 up and then going in to 2-2 it was a big disappointment, but even a point at Anfield is a very good result.

“It showed the character of the team to push up at the end and get the winning goal.”

On Llorente, he added: “The big man is very strong in the box. We need to get delivery in to him and he’s good in the air. The work the team did defensively was outstanding and I think our game-plan worked perfectly.”

Llorente added: “I got two goals but the third goal was more important for the whole team. We had to fight and run a lot. I am very happy for me, but for the team very, very happy.”

Klopp was furious after his side collapsed in the second period before conceding the winner when seemingly on top.

“These things happen but we came back and played really well,” he said. “Our first goal was deserved and the second also, but the third was most disappointing (to concede).”

It was a stunning turnaround by the Swans, who had crashed to a 4-0 defeat at home to Arsenal in head coach’s Paul Clement first match in charge last week.

Clement was claimed there were signs of progress despite that thrashing and at Anfield the improvement continued as his players adapted well to a disciplined structure based around a five-man midfield.

New signings Tom Carroll and Martin Olsson caught the eye, with former Tottenham midfielder Carroll, in particular, looking composed back at the club where he spent a season on loan two years ago.

It was Carroll who had a hand in two of Swansea’s goals – Llorente’s powerful header that made it 2-0 and then the winner for Sigurdsson – and the £4.5m purchase was arguably the most influential player on the pitch with his workrate and accurate distribution.

“We have talked all along about getting some performances, and today we produced a real 90-minute performance,” Clement said.

“We defended well, we took our opportunities on set-plays and we looked dangerous on the counter.

“This kind of performance can give everybody a big lift and help their confidence.

“The confidence of this team has been down at times and they have been criticised for not being able to respond when they have gone behind.

“We didn’t go behind today, but we had a difficult moment in the game when we conceded two goals quickly to make it 2-2.

“At that point the crowd lifted and gave Liverpool extra energy, so it was very pleasing to take another opportunity on the counter-attack and then see the game through.

“The players showed the character they have at 2-2 and that’s a big positive for us.

“We have talked about all the aspects it takes to produce a good performance – the tactics, the best thing to do defensively, where we can see opportunities to hurt the opposition, organisation at set-plays and what to do in the transition, as well as the mental aspect of coming to a place like this,” Clement added.

“I am a coach who believes in executing the basics well – nothing complicated.

“We have to defend well, attack well and we need people knowing their jobs and responsibilities.

“Our mindset in the group is that anything is possible (in the relegation battle), but our only focus is on delivering performances, and we must now do that against Southampton.”

Clement had words of praise for the impressive Carroll and fellow debutant Martin Olsson.

“I thought they both did really well,” he said. “Martin is athletic and can get forward and he is a good footballer.

“And Tom showed what a good footballer he is. I was a little worried that he might not last the whole game as he had not played 90 minutes for a long time, but he showed how fit he is.

“He got around the pitch and made a wonderful contribution to the second goal.”