Harry Darling | That was not how we wanted to start off
Harry Darling acknowledged Swansea City were masters of their own downfall against Middlesbrough, but knows there is a long way to go in the campaign despite that opening-day disappointment.
The Swans suffered a 1-0 defeat at the Riverside Stadium thanks to an Emmanuel Latte Lath penalty in the 25th minute.
Swansea improved as the contest went on, but struggled to create clear-cut goalscoring opportunities until the closing moments.
Head coach Williams felt his side had paid for that sluggish start, and defender Darling echoed the Swans boss in believing it was the visitors’ own mistakes that had cost them.
“It’s a disappointing way to start, they are a team who I think will be up there this season but that’s no excuse because we have spoken about needing to be ready to take on any team,” said the centre-back.
“We had our chances late on but the fact of the matter is we conceded a poor goal, and a lot of the chances they had came from our mistakes with the ball.
“It is the first game, and there is a long way to go, but that is not how we wanted to start particularly when you look at the effort the supporters made to be here to support us, some of them getting up in the middle of the night to travel.
“We are gutted we did not give them more to cheer and a better result, but I hope in the second half they could see the signs of what we are trying to do.”
Swansea will quickly be back in action when they host Gillingham at the Swansea.com Stadium on Tuesday evening, and Darling knows it will be important to bounce back from their Teesside disappointment as soon as possible.
“The games are going to come thick and fast from here so we need to make the most of another chance to get out there again on Tuesday,” he said.
“It’s another chance to play together as a group and build those relationships with the new players and to get a win on the board that we can take forward and build from.”