Midfielder Craig Bird said the Sydney Swans’ ability to win in close games demonstrates just how far the club has come in the past 12 months.

Speaking to SwansTV ahead of training on Tuesday, Bird said the club’s tight wins this season, including Sunday’s over the Saints as well as clutch victories over Essendon and Geelong, were evidence of the club’s improvement.

“It gives the team a bit of confidence to know that when teams do come at us we are able to stand up and really push back and get over the line,” Bird told SwansTV.

“I think that’s been the big difference compared to last year, in that we’ve been able to win those close games, so it’s been really good.

“We’ve been in good form and have had a couple of wins lately, so hopefully we can continue to keep that going for the rest of the year.”

Bird’s individual development has also shown promising signs this season, with the 23-year-old taking on roles both in the midfield and up forward.

In the past two weeks, Bird has slotted important goals for the Swans, including a much needed steadier in the last quarter of Sunday’s 29-point win over the Saints.

“I have played a bit more forward in the last couple of weeks and it’s always good to kick a goal and just contribute to the team, so hopefully I can kick a couple more,” Bird said.

“Otherwise I’ve been playing a few run through roles on a couple of players and just trying to get that job done every week, and just playing my role that Horse wants me to play every week is my aim.”

Looking ahead to Saturday night’s clash with the Gold Coast at Metricon Stadium, Bird said there was no doubt this weekend’s match was an important one for the Swans to win.

“Obviously it’s very important (to win) as it’s a bit of logjam at the top,” he said.

“If you drop a game you can obviously drop a couple of spots so we are just going to look to this week and work out how we can beat the Gold Coast and go up there and do our job.”

Bird said the Swans are going to have to work hard to secure their 14th win of the season this weekend, following some solid form from Gold Coast over the past month.

“(Gold Coast) have been going alright lately,” he said.

“Obviously two weeks ago they beat Richmond up in Cairns and last week they were right in the game until the end against Brisbane, so they have been very competitive and we’re going to expect that again this week.

“Their midfield has been going well, so we’re going to have to win that battle on the weekend.”