Swans’ boss Vitor Matos: ‘The players will keep on fighting’

Swansea dropped three places to 14th after a 3-0 loss at home to Championship leaders Coventry.

It was the Swans’ second successive defeat and they would appear to have little left to play for this season.

But Swansea boss Vitor Matos said: “Players will keep fighting, not for me but for the club.

“We are together on this and that is quite important. We need to keep pushing. There are still a lot of things you can do and fight for.

“It’s always possible to have memorable games and put in the performances that everyone wants. I will be being like that and so will the players.

“We will keep pushing ourselves to the next level.

“We need to keep improving and we must be more clinical. I believe in the potential of this squad.”

Frank Lampard expressed delight after Coventry capitalised on their Sky Bet Championship rivals slipping to up extend their lead at the summit with a comfortable 3-0 win at Swansea.

Lampard told his players to “grab” the opportunity after Coventry’s closest challengers Middlesbrough, Ipswich and Millwall all drew earlier on Saturday.

The Sky Blues did just that as three goals in 11 first-half minutes from Brandon Thomas-Asante, Matt Grimes and Tatsuhiro Sakamoto sealed an impressive victory that puts Coventry nine points clear.

“We knew and we watched the games before,” head coach Lampard said after second-placed Middlesbrough drew at Blackburn, while Ipswich and Millwall shared the spoils at Portman Road to drop 11 points back.

“They were positive results in a sense and I didn’t want them to relax. It was a free hit in many ways, so we said, ‘let’s do it, let’s go and grab it’.

“Opportunities like that don’t come every week. If everyone else wins then it is a different feeling.

“I thought the lads dealt with it very positively and showed that in their performance.”

Grimes made 333 appearances for Swansea in a 10-year spell before joining Coventry in January 2025.

The Sky Blues skipper made a memorable first return to his former club by driving home the second goal from 20 yards after 38 minutes.

Grimes had been barracked throughout by Swansea fans, but refused to celebrate his strike and put his hands up as if to apologise to the home crowd.

Lampard said: “It’s strange he gets booed after he spent 10 years here.

“I’ve got a lot of affection for Swansea because I came here on loan many years ago.

“I’m not criticising the club here, but why would someone turn up here to boo Matt Grimes after the service he gave. I hope this finally puts all of that to bed.

“He moved on like everyone does. Sometimes they kick you out or you move on, that’s life.

“Maybe some people might bemoan the fact they booed him because the way he dealt with it was great.

“A lot of people, including me, maybe would have had a little celebration, but that’s a sign of the man he is.”