Rob Davies
Michael Duff was left to rue players not doing their jobs in the defeat at West Brom yesterday afternoon.
The Swans lacked urgency until the introduction of Charlie Patino who showed his class by providing an assist and almost setting up an unlikely equaliser.
Patino’s arrival also heralded the return to a back four, something which looked altogether more comfortable as the Swans came back into the game with two goals from Cabango and Wood.
But Duff doesn’t believe that it was the formation change that made the difference and linked it more to an increased urgency all across the pitch.
The Swansea boss also confirmed that two new players are likely to arrive this week as Bashir Humphreys and Nathan Tjoe-A-On look poised to put pen to paper.
“The feeling is mainly frustration, we were masters of our own downfall,” he said.
“We were passive, we were too slow with the ball in the first half and had no intensity.
“There was no purpose to what we were doing, we were keeping the ball for the sake of keeping it.
“We gave away a poor goal, you cannot allow them to have four-straight contacts in your penalty area.
“We came out second half and did not really show a great deal more purpose, which again is a frustration.
“We gave two more goals away, and then we come alive, which is a positive.
“We looked fit, we moved the ball quicker, people came on and affected it. We changed formation, but I don’t think that had a lot to do with it, to be honest.
“We moved the ball quicker and showed a bit more purpose, we need to learn that we cannot give poor goals away and we cannot play at our own tempo. We have to play at a high tempo.
“They just kept sliding across the pitch in defence and looking to hit us on the counter-attack, which teams will try and do.
“They picked their biggest team against us, so we have to eradicate our errors there, which has been an Achilles heel over the last few years.
“It’s down to people doing their jobs. People have specific jobs and they didn’t do them today.
“At the level we are at, you don’t get many opportunities, but the positive was that no-one went under, they stuck together and no-one started looking after themselves.
“The frustration is you look at every stat at the end of the game, and they are all in our favour apart from the one that really matters.”
