'We are making progress'

Carlos Carvalhal reckons Swansea City are showing signs of progress after their 1-1 draw at Newcastle United.

The Swans remain unbeaten on the road under Carvalhal after they fought hard for a share of the spoils at St James’ Park.

But there was some frustration for the visitors on Tyneside as they might have taken all three points.

Not for the first time in Carvalhal’s short reign, a major refereeing decision went against the Swans, as Mo Diame got away with handling Mike van der Hoorn’s goalbound effort on the line in the first half.

The Swans went in front through Jordan Ayew just after the hour mark, but the lead lasted only seven minutes as Joselu levelled.

There was a chance for the visitors to win it in stoppage time, but Wilfried Bony saw his shot cleared off the line.

“After the game I don’t know if we have achieved one point or lost two, especially when you arrive in the dressing room after the game and my players are really upset because there was a feeling that we could have won,” Carvalhal said.

“I arrived two weeks ago. We have moved things around and changed the formation.

“Against Tottenham they scored an invalid goal and we had three or four clear chances, so we could easily have got something.

“But we have a point at Newcastle so we have four points from two away games and not a bad performance against Tottenham.

“We are progressing. We are playing better, with more confidence and a better dynamic.

“Things are still very difficult for us and there’s a lot of work to do, but I think people can see that we are progressing.

“If we continue like that, maybe we can achieve something and jump some positions in the table. I think we deserve this interpretation.”

The Swans were second best in the first half at Newcastle, but were well worth the draw after coming back into it after the break.

And they might have been celebrating a victory had things gone their way.

“Newcastle have a very good team,” Carvlhal added. “Our strategy was to keep the ball and then try to create spaces going forward.

“We did well for part of the first half, but the chances Newcastle created were from our mistakes.

“In the second half we corrected things and started to control the midfield. We had 57 per cent of possession, had more shots on target and played with a better dynamic than in the past.

“We scored a goal. They didn’t create many chances in the second half but scored when we had four players on one.

“We fought again and in the last minute we had the most clear chance of the game. We could have won.”

Carvalhal was understandably frustrated with the big refereeing call which went against his team.

“I can’t say I saw it at the time, but within a minute my assistant told me it was a clear penalty and a red card,” he said.

“The referee didn’t see it. This is the job of the officials, they are there to try to see these things.

“I think this referee (Graham Scott) is a good referee, but in the last games the decisions have not been good for us.”