Cotterill praises Sousa's managerial style
Cotterill netted his second goal for the club when he curled a set-piece into the top corner.
And he was quick to pay tribute to his boss, having sealed a permanent switch to South Wales during the January transfer window.
"Personally, the manager has been great with me and helped me get to where I want to be," said Cotterill.
"He knows the game inside out and he's been there for me. Hopefully, if I can keep working on the way he wants us to play, I can improve as a player and help the team improve.
"He doesn't shout and bawl, it's instructions about getting it right.
Nod
"We'll have to wait and see about whether I can get the nod at all the free-kicks, but it was nice when I did get the chance to see it hit the back of the net."
Swansea dominated the clash against their opponents, claiming a deserved 2-0 win that might have been more emphatic.
It cemented their place in the Championship top six ahead of tomorrow's trip to Crystal Palace, and Cotterill admitted the result had given the whole squad a boost.
"I definitely enjoyed that one," he said. "We bossed the game and passed the ball extremely well from start to finish and it gave all of us a lift.
"Nathan (Dyer) was causing havoc down the other wing and got us some good early chances, but getting an early goal was massive for us because we've seen how sides come here and try to frustrate us.
Confidence
"We got that and it gave us confidence to make sure we got the result.
"Sides come here and sit back, but Preston couldn't live with us — and they are a good side themselves so it just shows how good we were.
"But we need to keep hitting those levels and if we do we can do a lot in this league."
The win kept Swansea fifth in the Championship after 28 games.
"There's been a lot of talk about the lack of goals and it's fair because we haven't scored enough at times this season," said Cotterill.
"And even here we scored two but we could have had a few more.
"But we've taken a step in the right direction, played well and got our goals and it's up to us to keep building."
He added: "We've stayed in the top six after dropping a few points in recent weeks and now we've won there are a few points between us and sixth and seventh.
"If we can build on this confidence, we can start pushing on even further.
"We can't get ahead of ourselves so we have to only look at the next game. But we are getting there."
gareth.vincent@swwmedia.co.uk
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