Planet Swans ArchivesThe Swansea City manager feels that his side have not been aggressive enough in their away games recently and have gifted the opposition chances to take the initiative.
Penalties conceded by Alan Tate (Scunthorpe) and Dorus De Vries (Preston) coupled with Ashley Williams' own goal at Derby have not helped as Brendan explained to the Western Mail “These are the moments which can define games
“We didn’t start so well in the Derby and Preston games, we gave ourselves mountain to climb and that always gives a struggling side motivation and something to hold on to.
“We’ve really got to go and show the steel we have for a big part of the season.
“I just felt in our away games there was an aggression missing early on in the season. We were just too open.
“It was something we had rectified, but it had slipped back into our away performances.
“We know you’ve got to go into these away games and make sure your spaces are closed, your lines are close and you are not giving anything away.
“You play your football and earn that respect to play. When we’ve been at our best away from home that’s what we’ve done, we’ve earned the right to play.
“We got our victories from there.
“It is making sure our defensive base as a team is solid and the framework to play our football comes from that.
“It is important that when you are playing teams that are struggling you can go and get that first goal.
“Away at Derby, we conceded early on after making a decent start and at Preston there was only a few minutes on the clock when we went behind.
“It give them the confidence and put a barrier up for us.
“We need to take our strength and aggression into the game and try and pick up three points.
“The longer we can keep our clean sheet the better for us.
“What gives us great hope is the results we’ve had away from home, we’ve had some excellent performances. So I know we can do it and that’s the most important thing,” added the Swansea boss.
“We are a team who can pick ourselves up and we don’t seem to dwell so much.
“It’s the stage of the season where teams and players can become a bit anxious.
“You have got to try and think clearly under pressure and keep your mindset.
“If we perform well, nine times out of 10 we will win the games.
“We will look to try and dominate possession and wear them down, but we are under no illusions our next two games are going to be very tough indeed.
“I’ve got top players in the squad who have been outstanding and they know what they are going to do.
“We can only worry about playing our football. We can’t worry about anything else.
“This season has been a big credit to our players so I have told them not to worry about it.
“We need to make sure we are defensively strong and have that steel in our game.
“We don’t need to worry about other teams because we can’t control that.
“We have to try and take full points against Burnley.
“It’s just important that we stay in there right until the very end
“We go into every game trying to win it and that is our only focus.
“We are only two points off second position, but we know it’s going to be a difficult game.
“It’s important we finish the season strong and the players are ready for it.
“They’ve had a brilliant result against Norwich and in that game we showed our ability to compete at the very top of this league.
“Hull arrived and we were under no illusion that would be just as difficult.
“They changed their formation four times in the game to accommodate us and we thoroughly deserved to go ahead in that match.
“Then we conceded a sloppy goal from our perspective, but we went for the win and it was not to be.
“We will just keeping looking forward and trying to win games.
“Burnley are a good side with good players, they are going through a difficult run, but we need to focus on going there and getting a result.
“I’ve got every belief we can.”
