Alan Sheehan | The effort was there, but we were missing a spark

Alan Sheehan admitted Swansea City had been missing the spark to get themselves back in the game after conceding two early goals in defeat to Burnley.

Captain Josh Brownhill put the Clarets ahead in just the fourth minute with a close-range finish, and Jaidon Anthony doubled their advantage when he fired home after Swansea had been unable to clear with fewer than 23 minutes on the clock.

The hosts battled to find a way back into the game, but could not do so, with a Ronald header with 20 minutes to go arguably their best chance.

And caretaker head coach Sheehan felt a run of four games in a little over 10 days had affected energy levels against a Burnley team challenging for automatic promotion.

“This was always going to be a difficult game for us today, and we made it even more difficult for ourselves with the way we conceded the first goal,” he said.

“That made it an uphill battle from there, we let the distances get too big and then we switched off in certain areas for the second goal.

“I think it was a game too far with it being four games in 10 days, and you are up against a really physical team you are used to keeping clean sheets and really difficult to break down.

“I felt we huffed and puffed in different areas at different times, but ultimately the lads are out on their feet and they are a team who are where they are for a reason.

“We talk about attitude and desire and things like that. The lads gave everything but we just lacked a bit of a spark.”