Defender Marty Mattner said the Swans’ belief in their own ability is what has propelled the team to a seventh straight win.

Despite trailing five goals to one in the first term in yesterday’s win over St Kilda, Mattner said the Swans were confident they could work their way back into the game.

“I think some of those games that we’ve won this year has added more belief to the team and on the weekend, even though St Kilda got a really good start, a few of the boys realised we were still in the game,” he said at the Swans recovery session at North Bondi this morning.

“When (St Kilda) kicked a goal we were able to answer with another goal, which is something that we always want to do and in the last couple of minutes we had a few kicks at goal and had a good win in the end.

“We weren’t in the game early but we stuck in and got ourselves back into the game at half-time and then got ahead in that last quarter.

“I think last year we lost a couple of those close games and this year we’ve been able to win them.”

The Swans win yesterday saw Sydney return to the top of the AFL ladder, with 13 wins and three losses.

Mattner said the Swans’ form this season has also been assisted by the constant pressure from the players below playing in the reserves, who had a strong 130-point win yesterday morning.

“Our twos have been going alright and we have to have that pressure coming from below,” he said.

“It makes us play better and it means everyone has to be on their game.”

A spot in the Swans’ defence is one of most hotly contested positions on field, with a number of players pushing for senior selection.

Mattner said there wasn’t any doubt that players needed to be on their game every week in order to hold their place in the team.

“You’ve got to play well and that’s actually a really great thing about the footy club, because if you don’t you lose your spot,” he said.

“It’s unlucky for blokes but it’s good competition within the team and it keeps the team strong.

“That competition from below keeps training standards high and everyone is out to get a spot on the team.”

The Swans now move their focus to this week's opponent, the Gold Coast Suns at Metricon Stadium on Saturday night.

After breaking through for their first win of the season two weeks ago, the Suns pushed rivals the Brisbane Lions in the QClash on Saturday afternoon.

“Today we will review the game from the weekend and then tomorrow we’ll be straight onto the Gold Coast," Mattner said.

“We’ll have a look at them and they’ve been playing what looks like some good footy.

“They’ve been in games but they haven’t quite finished them off, so we’ll have to wait and see.”