Martin rues Swansea’s ‘inexcusable’ defeat at Blackburn

Swansea boss Russell Martin rued Swansea’s ‘inexcusable’ defeat at Blackburn as his side lost ground on the top six in the Championship.

Rovers were second best in the first half, with Ben Cabango hitting the woodwork and Jay Fulton poking wide.

But the home side upped the intensity in a second half and the pressure eventually told in the 89th minute thanks to Daniel Ayala’s low header – his first goal of the season.

The moment was met with an outpouring of relief from the Ewood Park stands as Rovers ended a run of five Championship games without a win.

Martin however felt his defence, which has kept just one clean sheet in the last 11 league games, once again let the side down.

‘In the balance’

The Swans boss said: “We shouldn’t lose the game, I don’t think we deserved to lose the game.

“There were some really good chances in the first half. Don’t think they had anything in the first half, but we don’t score the first goal again. It keeps the game hanging in the balance.

“Second half, they changed formation that helped them a little bit but we didn’t show anywhere near enough intensity with the ball.

“Intensity without the ball today was great, even the way we defended the final third. Again, (we) limited them to very little apart from Brereton Diaz at the back post.

“They score a second phase from a set piece which happens far too much. I think, maybe take the point at 0-0 and be disappointed not to make more of what we had. But to lose it is inexcusable.

“We concede too many, we’ve scored the fourth most, we don’t score first today and we concede.

“We should have a clean sheet. They’ve created absolutely nothing really, seven shots all game and not really too many scary moments.

“We had 10 shots but should create way more with the openings we have. It’s really frustrating.”

Aggresive

Rover’s boss Jon Dahl Tomasson said he was delighted with Blackburn’s “aggressive” second-half performance as his side snatched the win.

“Today was a big win,” he said.

“If you look at the performance and result, I think it was deserved as well.

“After being on the road and playing those two difficult games against Watford and West Brom – two teams who need to go up with Premier League players – when you come home at Ewood Park, where we’ve celebrated a lot of victories with our fans, we want to win.

“In the first half, I was not happy with our first half, that was not the plan. I think we were too passive out of possession, we were not moving the ball quick enough.

“We spoke about it at half-time and you saw a great Rovers in the second half – front footed, aggressive, playing quick football.

“And (it was) good to see another clean sheet and big Daniel getting his goal which was nice.

“The crowd got behind the players, so it’s been a good win today and you could see the players believed right to the end after a period with a lot of games.

“They were fighting to the end and showed that great spirit and togetherness that this team has.”