Duff remains upbeat despite Swansea’s winless start to the season

Swansea boss Michael Duff says he is confident his side will come good despite City’s winless start to the new Championship season.

Duff was also full of praise for goalscorer Jerry Yates after earning the hosts a point in the 1-1 draw at home to Coventry.

The striker joined the Swans from Blackpool in the summer and has now netted in each of his two home appearances for the club.

“The one thing he does do is pop up with a goal – that’s two in two,” said Duff.

“He lives for goals and he gives you everything, whether he scores or not.”

Despite failing to win any of his first three Championship matches as boss, Duff remains confident that his early struggles at former clubs Cheltenham and Barnsley prove the Swans need to stay patient.

“The same things happened at my last two clubs,” he said.

“I didn’t win a game for 10 games at Cheltenham, 18 months later we won the league.

“The same thing happened at Barnsley. We were eighth or ninth in the league for the first three months, then we were the most in-form team in the country from November on.

“It’s never going to happen overnight. I want to win as much as anyone else. I also understand there’s a process.”

Frustrated

Sky Blues boss Mark Robins admitted he was frustrated by the draw but said he was con fident his much-changed squad would come good.

Record-signing Haji Wright spurned a number of chances in the first half before Matty Godden gave the Sky Blues a lead, gefore Yates earned a point for the hosts.

Coventry lost several key players – including Viktor Gyokeres and Gustavo Hamer – following last season’s play-off final defeat to Luton but Robins believes his new-look team can ruffle plenty of feathers once the squad has had sufficient time to gel.

“I think we’re going to be good, but at the moment we’re just working our way through,” he said.

“Everybody needs to be patient. We’ve got brilliant supporters and they understand.

“But we’ve got to pick up points while we’re going, that’s the key.

“When we’ve worked together a little bit longer, I think you’ll see a different side with more confidence, more fluidity and hopefully more goals and more chances.”

“We should have won but you can only win games if you defend properly,” he added.

“We didn’t readjust quickly enough after we scored. The fact we conceded more or less straight away is really disappointing.

“The determination to try and play through them was there. I just think we tired and the fact I’ve not got the players I need to change things took its toll really.”