Alan Sheehan says he doesn’t want Swansea City to turn into a “nearly team” after seeing his men fall to a narrow 3-1 defeat against Leicester City at the Swansea.com Stadium.
A thunderous effort from Jordan James gave the visitors an early edge, before Adam Idah levelled things up from the penalty spot to breathe life back into the contest.
However, Leicester snatched what proved to be a hard-fought victory following a spectacular strike from Abdul Fatawu and a close-range header by Jannik Vestergaard.
It marked only Swansea’s second home loss under the Irishman, who couldn’t hide his frustration at how the match slipped away in the closing stages.
“I don’t want us to be a nearly team,” he said. “For 75, 80 minutes of the game we were well in it.
“Two worldie goals and then a ricochet set-piece at the end and after that we lose a small piece of discipline – that can change the perception.
“But I came in at half-time and my feeling was that ‘OK, we are in control of a lot of areas here, can we get a bit more quality in the final third?’.
“We get back in the game, create some decent chances and score a penalty. We bring on the attacking subs and I feel like we are getting the impetus.
“Then Fatawu comes inside and bends it in the top corner and the set-piece follows. If you pause it at 75 minutes, you’re probably not sure who is going to win the game.
“But it’s a 90-minute game and I don’t want to be a nearly team, so we have to go for the whole period.”
While Leicester walked away with all three points, Sheehan was keen to stress that fine margins decided the contest and that Swansea were far from second best for large parts of the match. He implied that luck — and a couple of individual moments of brilliance — swung the game in the Foxes’ favour.
There were, however, some encouraging signs for Swansea, including a first goal for Idah since joining from Celtic, as the forward confidently dispatched his spot-kick.
“There are some positives. I hate losing,” Sheehan added. “I really do. We’ve not lost a whole lot. So it is disappointing. Right now when it’s emotional, and it’s right here. It’s hard to see but I do feel we are progressing.
“Adam Idah comes on sets up the goal the other night to win us the game, and then obviously comes on to get his first goal. Sign up to the Swansea City WhatsApp service to get breaking news and top stories sent to your phone.
“So we’re delighted, but we never had a doubt.
“We know the players we have and we know what they want to give us, but obviously really happy for Adam to get that first goal.”