Swansea booed off as defensive frailties see Stoke battle for valuable win

Russell Martin admitted he was concerned about his side’s defensive frailty after Swansea lost 3-1 at home to struggling Stoke.

The hosts were booed at the final whistle as Josh Laurent’s brace and a stoppage-time clincher from substitute Lewis Baker condemned Swansea to both defeat and the joint-worst defensive record in the Championship, having now conceded 50 goals alongside bottom-placed Wigan.

The Swans has taken the lead in the second minute through Morgan Whittaker.

Martin said: “Of course it’s a concern, but we have to try and find a way to stop that.

“We have a lot of young players in the team that will be better for this experience.

“I can’t come out and defend that really, we’ve conceded far too many goals, too many individual mistakes.

“I understand that (boos at final whistle). You don’t want to hear it, but you understand it. Results-wise it’s been tough, but we’re sitting 12th with the youngest team and the smallest squad in the league.”

Stoke had slipped into relegation trouble after winning only three of their previous 12 games.

But after climbing two places to 17th and moving nine points clear of the bottom three with the win, boss Alex Neil said: “I think our set-up was really brave in terms of how we tried to do it.

“The fact we conceded the goal early was really disappointing. We’ve conceded far too many early goals, chased the game and haven’t really got into it, but this time I thought we carried a threat right through the game.”