Planet Swans ArchivesSwansea City have the chance to bounce straight back when Middlesbrough arrive at the Liberty on Sunday with Rodgers calling on his side to show that Bristol City was a one off.
He told the Evening Post “I said to the players afterwards that they have to learn a lesson — and the lesson is that for every single game, whether it’s home or away, we can’t afford to have an off day.
“We have to be 100 per cent on it.
“We need to reflect, learn our lesson and move on to somebody else.
“We need a reaction and the reaction this year has always been great,” he said.
“Middlesbrough will be very tough opponents. They try to play a certain way so that will be another difficult game, as they all are at this level.
“We are third in the league and that’s been a consequence of our mentality and physicality every single day — we’ve just got to continue what we’re doing.
“I’m stunned,” he said. “We don’t like losing, it’s not a nice taste and for sure we’ll put it right.
“I can afford the players an off night because they’ve been outstanding. I can’t criticise them.
“There’s no doubt we will get back on track.
“We’ll put it to bed by Middlesbrough and go and get the three points.
“What I really expect is that we bounce back, and you can do that if you’re honest — that’s what these guys are.
“We’ve shown great form over the course of the season. We’ve only had one other game — at Nottingham Forest — where we were disappointing.
“We can’t afford to have too many off days if we want to keep progressing, but if we’re not right on it for whatever reason that’s what can happen. We must learn from it and move on.”
