Monk: Ki will be sorely missed

Swansea City manager Garry Monk has conceded that Ki Sung-yueng will be a big miss when he goes to the Asian Games in January.

The South Korea international is enjoying a fine campaign at Swansea after he returned from a year-long loan at Sunderland during the close-season.

The 25-year-old helped Swansea to a 1-0 win at Hull City on Saturday, diverting a Jonjo Shelvey effort into the net for the game’s only goal.

And after the midfielder voiced his fears to Monk about a potential lack of first-team football at the beginning of the season, the Swansea manager conceded that his team will miss Ki when he heads to the 2015 Asian Games in January.

“I spoke to him [Ki] a lot through the summer,” Monk told reporters. “He wasn’t used in previous seasons, that was his concern. 

“I knew exactly what kind of player Ki is and what I want him to do. I’ve worked closely with him, on understanding what I want from him. 

“He’s a big player, we will miss him in January but again there’s other players who can step in. Tom [Carroll] was a tactical change [and] he did very well.”

Saturday’s match was Swansea’s first away win in the Premier League since beating Manchester United at Old Trafford on the opening day of the season, but Monk believes their performances have generally deserved more.

He added: “For sure [we have deserved more], I spoke to them in the week. The only time we haven’t performed away from home was West ham.

“[You look] at Manchester City, Stoke, there were different circumstances. Everton, Sunderland away we performed well and were unlucky not to get more points. 

“Today was pleasing, all in all the chances we created and the way we defended we deserved the three points.”