Jamie Sherwood | Football can be cruel, but I'm proud of the players

First-team manager Jamie Sherwood was proud of Swansea City Women’s display in adversity, despite their late 1-0 defeat to The New Saints in the Genero Adran Premier.

The Swans played over an hour with defender Nia Jones in goal after keeper Charlie Haynes suffered a concussion when rushing out to gather a loose ball in just the 24th minute.

Despite the setback, the Swans battled bravely.

Katy Hosford came closest to a goal for the visitors as her volley from distance struck the bar, but it would be heartbreak for the Swans when Lexi Jones netted a stoppage-time winner for the home side.

Sherwood was proud of the performance that his side put in and felt their efforts showed the character they possess.

“I’m feel strangely positive, even though we have lost,” said Sherwood, who was without a host of players through injury and lack of availability.

“I’ve got nothing but pride for the group of players that have shown their character, we talk a lot about our identity and the way we want to play, but it’s about that personality off the ball to allow us to do that and we showed it in abundance.

“Football is cruel at times and it feels very cruel for this group of players because of the work they’ve put in, not just today but leading into the game.

“We were very much in control of what we were doing and how we made the opposition play, I just feel very proud of the team, but the game can be cruel.

“We have leaders across the pitch, as soon as Charlie [Haynes] had to come off, it wasn’t even a discussion, Nia [Jones] took the gloves and said ‘I’m doing it’.

“Chloe Chivers tucked into centre-back, Robyn Pinder came back into that six role, we’ve got Katy Hosford who hasn’t played for eight weeks coming on and playing for 75 minutes.

“Aimee Deacon ran her socks off, Maddy Murray was superb again and allowed us to build the way we want to build, Lucy Finch, Sammy Wynne, Danielle Broadhurst, I’m incredibly proud of every player that has entered the pitch.

“Whether you have a full bench or the bench we had today, it’s always going to be difficult, the game will have challenges and the players faced them head on.

“They’ve done it again under different circumstances, it shows the resilience we have and we should be really proud of what the group have done.”