Swansea City boss Russell Martin believes his side didn't deserve to lose against Middlesbrough yesterday, speaking post-match to the Welsh outfit's media team after they suffered a 1-0 defeat at the Riverside Stadium.

Sol Bamba was the man to play a huge part in the hosts' breakthrough, coolly taking the ball past Jamie Paterson before supplying a sublime ball for Isiah Jones to run through on goal and slot the ball past Ben Hamer with ease, with the 22-year-old having all the time in the world to pick his finish.

Ryan Manning did strike the woodwork prior to Boro's opener, but their most notable incident in the first 45 came after with Paterson going down in the box from Luke Daniels' challenge, a fall deemed to by a dive by referee Andy Davies.

 

 

TheSwans did have chances to level the score in the second half, with Joel Piroe having his effort cleared off the line miraculously by Paddy McNair.

However, their dominance of possession wasn't enough to secure a point or three in the end and with one poor bit of defending, they slip down five places in the Championship table.

With Millwall, Middlesbrough, Sheffield United, Luton Town and Nottingham Forest all overtaking the Swans after winning their respective weekend ties, Martin was left ruing his side's inability to be clinical as he took to the microphone to express his thoughts.

He said: "I don’t think there was any way we deserved to lose the game today.

"First half we had to fight really hard against a team who were really aggressive and made it hard for us.

"They had one moment, and they scored from it. They had two shots on target at home."

On the chances created by his team, Martin added: "We go through with Pato, it’s potentially a penalty but I haven’t seen it back.

"Ryan Manning has a shot where the keeper makes a good save, Joel Piroe has one blocked and it just felt like the goal might be coming at some point.

"But we have given a team something to hang on to, a team who are fighting hard for their new manager. That was enough for them to win.

"We were so dominant second half, we created so many chances and you cannot create that much away from home and not take at least a point away. It’s outrageous."

The Verdict:

You have to respect Swansea and how far they have come this season, because Steve Cooper's departure shortly before the season could have been a real hammer blow to the Swans, especially after losing Andre Ayew too.

But they have adapted well under Martin with a completely different style to his predecessor, so results like this one will happen and that should be expected as they continue their transition.

Focusing on the game though, they had to make their possession pay, something they also failed to do against Reading and this is why they have suffered back-to-back losses despite not necessarily deserving to.

However, the simple fact is Boro converted their main chance and the Welsh side couldn't be clinical in front of goal, and the only thing that matters is the result. And you have to commend the hosts for showing a different side to their game to grind out this result.

You can see this dominance being a key frustration throughout the ex-Norwich City player's tenure at the helm, because they will control more games than they will win unless they change their style.

However, they should stick with their current style of play because when it works, the Swans look like a formidable force.