Nathan Dyer made his loan deal at Swansea permanent in the summer
Welsh derby goal hero Nathan Dyer has warned the Championship that Swansea City are realistic promotion contenders after beating high-flying Cardiff City.
Dyer opened the scoring as Swansea beat rivals Cardiff 3-2 to extend their unbeaten run to 10 games and move two points outside the play-off zone.
The winger said: "People have to start standing up and taking notice of us."
But fellow Swans goal-scorer Darren Pratley sounded a note of caution, insisting: "We won't get carried away."
Swansea suffered a stuttering start to the season under new boss Paulo Sousa as the Welsh club won just one of their opening six Championship games.
The former Portugal midfielder had replaced popular manager Roberto Martinez at the Liberty Stadium in the summer as, after guiding Swansea to their best league finish for almost a quarter of a century, Martinez left to fill the vacant managerial post at Premier League Wigan Athletic.
As he followed such a successful manager, Sousa endured a little criticism early on after his average start.
One win against your local rivals doesn't mean you're the best team in the Championship so we must carry on working hard and improve on this result
Swansea City midfielder Darren Pratley
But the one-time Inter Milan and Juventus superstar has gradually made his mark on the club.
The two-time Champions League winner has inspired Swansea on a division-best unbeaten run with the second meanest defence in the Championship.
The Swans have risen from just outside the relegation zone to move into the slipstream of the promotion-chasers - and Sousa's side are now just two points behind third-placed neighbours Cardiff.
Swansea's pulsating win over the Bluebirds, who were six games unbeaten before Saturday, means they have beaten three of the Championship's top four within the last month.
And Dyer insists: "People have take notice because this run has gone on too long.
"We have been in the background and people saying 'yeah they're good but' and other clubs have had the coverage.
"But we've proved our capabilities as we've beaten West Brom and now Cardiff so people must realise that we're not just a good footballing side, but we're going to be promotion contenders.
"We have one of the best defensive records in the Championship and now we're starting to score goals and winning games so now we can only go up from here."
Diminutive Dyer somehow found room in Cardiff's box-full of defensive giants to head Swansea into a ninth minute lead to celebrate his first goal of the season.
The 21-year-old had not scored since his goal in last year's 2-2 derby draw at Ninian Park and, in a bizarre twist of fate, fellow goal-scorer Pratley had also not hit the back of the net since scoring in a South Wales derby last season.
Pratley scored in the corresponding fixture at the Liberty Stadium last season, the 2-2 draw, but the former Fulham trainee went one better this term as his double - including a stunning 60th minute winner - ensured Swansea their first league derby win in 10 years.
The 24-year-old's all-round display rightly earned him the well-deserved man-of-the-match plaudit but Pratley refused to go over the top after his double celebration.
"It is another game unbeaten and it is good to beat your local rivals," he told BBC Sport.
"And we will enjoy it but we won't get carried away as there are 30 games left in this season.
"One win against your local rivals doesn't mean you're the best team in the Championship so we must carry on working hard and improve on this result."
Swansea are proving that beating the top teams is not just a one-off as they have also seen off QPR in recent weeks as well as Cardiff and West Bromwich Albion.
"It is a positive when you beat the top sides," continued Pratley.
"But we want to carry on doing that so we won't take our foot off the gas and we have a group of players that want to do well for Swansea all season."
And Pratley says that Sousa's "winning mentality" is rubbing off.
"The manager has been working very hard," said Pratley.
"Any little mistakes we make in training, he is on to us - he is a winner and he has instilled that into his players."
And Dyer added: "It was always going to be transition from a more attacking-wise manager but we have worked on our defensive strategies and it is working well."
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