Monk calls for Swansea players to back themselves

Swansea City manager Garry Monk is desperate to restore his side’s confidence after another below-par display in their loss to Stoke City.

An early Bojan Krkic penalty condemned Swansea to a 1-0 defeat on Monday and they are now winless from their last six matches in all competitions.

Monk acknowledged the difficult patch his side are going through following a result that left them just four points clear of the Premier League relegation zone.

“We just weren’t at the level we should be today and that’s the period we have been in for the last four games or so,” he said.

“It is for me to work with the players very closely now and focus on bringing the confidence back.

“It is not through a lack of effort or commitment – we had that and I never doubt that with these players – but that passing we do, we are normally so crisp and bright, that intricate passing in and around the box to create chances wasn’t quite there. They know 100 per cent that’s what they are capable of doing.

“I wouldn’t say it was a bad performance, just too many mistakes and that lack of brightness and accurate passing.”

Swansea finished with just two shots on target at the Liberty Stadium as Stoke held firm to earn all three points.

Monk praised Mark Hughes’ men, but felt his team committed a fatal amount of errors.

“We knew they would come and play counter-attack and when they did we made too many mistakes in the first half with the ball,” Monk said.

“Simple passes went astray and they managed to get the goal from our mistake and that made it even harder.

“Once they got the goal they defended very deep, they were very organised, really playing even more counter-attack because we were pushing. We left ourselves open and still made silly mistakes.”

The next opportunity for Swansea to reverse their fortunes is a match away to fellow strugglers Aston Villa on Saturday.