Luke Williams | I am disappointed for the players

Luke Williams felt his Swansea City players had deserved more for their efforts after suffering a 2-1 defeat to Sheffield United at the Swansea.com Stadium.

The Swans had merited their half-time lead after Florian Bianchini had nodded in following Michael Cooper’s save from Ben Cabango’s header.

But the game swung towards the visitors when they levelled through Rhian Brewster shortly after the restart, and the Swans were soon down to 10 men when Harry Darling was harshly dismissed for a clumsy challenge on the goalscorer a few minutes later.

Harrison Burrows would go on to net the winner from the penalty spot for the Blades – who went top of the Championship table with victory – as the Swans were unable to find an equaliser during a concerted spell of late pressure. 

“I am really hurt by the result, but I thought the response after an awful performance in the derby was a really good one,” said the head coach.

“I am disappointed for the players. I thought the first-half performance was outstanding. To be honest, we played almost 40 minutes with one less player against one of the best sides in the division and we still tried to get back on terms.

“We did everything we could to try and get back in the game, so I am very happy with the players and devastated with the result.

“They started the second half really well, they got the equaliser before the red card but I think we would have been very competitive in the game if we had not suffered the red card.

“I don’t want to say too much on the red card, I have not had a chance to watch it back, but I think if you look at the reactions it doesn’t seem to me that any of the players think that is a straight red card.

“Even after that, I think we were as likely as they were to score and it’s hard because I want to praise the players so much more but it’s hard to do that when we don’t have the result, and I am hurt for our supporters too. They are in pain because of how we performed in the previous game. I am sure they can respect the performance but we don’t have the celebration of a win.”