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Wales Online
Wales Online
Sport
Ian Mitchelmore

Gutted Swansea City boss Russell Martin reveals what 'p***** people off' as he reflects on grim Blackburn defeat

Russell Martin admitted Swansea City were the victims of their own downfall in their wretched 3-0 loss to Blackburn Rovers.

The Swans dominated possession for long periods in the Championship contest but were emphatically punished for their mistakes as Sammie Szmodics, Ben Brereton Diaz and Lewis Travis all struck for Rovers.

Defeat leaves Swansea with just a point to their name from their first two matches of the new campaign, with fans showing signs of frustration on numerous occasions during their clash with Jon Dahl Tomasson's side.

READ MORE: The miserable Swansea City player ratings as subbed duo sum up frustrating Blackburn Rovers defeat

And Martin admitted his side's play was often too slow as they were undone on the counter attack.

"Punished for mistakes and small details, moments not quite good enough," he said. "We had so much control, we make a mistake in the first half. Yes, we want it to be quicker, but we're playing against a team that have put loads of men behind the ball. We have to do a bit of work on that.

"We make a mistake, we follow it up with another another mistake. I said a couple of weeks ago about how we react to mistakes will define what we do, and it defined it today.

"We wanted more in the first half. They were getting a little more open, but it was really tight. Second half, they came out with good energy and we had good chances and then concede the second goal. It can't happen.

"Then, the third goal, we lose the ball in the middle of the pitch. They shouldn't score from there, but he does. There was so much good stuff still, I'll get criticised for [saying] that, and we have so many young men who need to learn quickly.

"We have to make more of the dominance of the ball. There wasn't enough ball speed in the first half or enough runs to threaten their backline.

"It's something we need to work on. We'll look at that for sure. Now it's up to us and the guys to work as hard as they continue to work."

Defeat represented a significant blow for the Swans, particularly for the Jack Army who had high hopes ahead of the campaign.

And Martin admitted his side's style of play attracted criticism from those in the Blackburn dug-out.

"It wasn't a lack of effort today," added the Swans boss. "The way we play isn't always going to please everyone. I think pretty much everyone out of Swansea hates it because they're desperate to stop it and beat it.

"Even a few comments from their bench towards it tells me the mentality towards it because we dare to try and control things and pass the ball. That's their prerogative. Ours is to try and control and improve people, bring the best version of ourselves.

"I really admire the lads sticking to it when it did get a little bit tetchy. I understand that.

"Expectancy has gone up from last season, we've had more time to work with the players. We need to stick together, work really hard and try to find solutions to the problems we faced today."

When asked if it was a criticism of Swansea's play, the head coach responded: "Yeah or an opinion of us as people which really doesn’t bother me because they don’t know me one bit, but it’s what you get when you play a certain way, a certain style of football here in the Championship.

“We have to make sure we are successful. Everyone is entitled their opinion on football, right. If someone likes a different style of football to me, I don’t have an opinion on that, especially if I don’t know them.

“Everyone’s entitled to do what they want to do, but for some reason the way we do it really p***** people off.”

In response to Martin's comments, Blackburn boss Tomasson said: "I think they played a good football game so I have nothing to complain about regarding that. We played against a good side today who are strong on the ball so that's why I chose to control the game out of possession."

Swansea return to action in the Carabao Cup against Oxford United on Tuesday night.

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