Garry Monk was not too downhearted despite watching his Swans side depart the FA Cup at Everton this afternoon.

The Swans boss suffered defeat for the first time since he was moved into the hot seat just under two weeks ago despite a brave performance from the team.

He made eight changes from the side that drew 1-1 at Stoke in midweek but watched his side match Everton almost blow for blow until two mistakes in the second half gave the home side two goals and the victory that saw them progress to an away tie against Arsenal in the quarter finals.

Neil Taylor's back pass was pounced upon by Steven Naismith to give the home side the lead before the same player as fouled by Jazz Richards allowing Leighton Baines to score the third from the penalty spot.

The two second half goals wiped out Jonathan De Guzman's first half equaliser that put the Swans on equal terms at half time in a spirited performance.

Speaking after the game, Monk said “We were well in the game

“We finished the first half positively after going a goal down.

“Unfortunately, we made a couple of mistakes, which is frustrating. But they were honest mistakes, and I can accept them. The players are their own biggest critics, and they don’t need to be told.

“The first goal was a set-piece and we didn’t deal with the second ball. We reacted well and if you look at the first-half, we had two or three really good chances. If they go in, it could be a different game.

“Neil then makes his mistake and Jazz then brings Naismith down for a penalty. But apart from them, we were well in the game.

“They weren’t cutting us open and having shot after shot. It was just individual mistakes.”

Monk now takes his side into their last 32 Europa League tie against Napoli with the first leg at the Liberty on Thursday night before a trip back to Liverpool to face Everton's red neighbours on Sunday at Anfield.

The run of fixtures means that Monk was always planning to rotate his squad for the games as he explained “When you have seven games in 21 days, it’s impossible to play the same team every game.

“Everyone will play during this certain period, and all of the players have been magnificent in training. I put a team out that I thought could win the game."

It will be interesting to see his team selection on Thursday where we can surely expect to see the likes of Shelvey, Chico and Ben back and possibly the return of Michu. Not the end of the world to see us exit the FA Cup and we go with our heads held high.

Photo: Action Images

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