Far from being too downhearted by the scoreline at the Liberty this afternoon Swans boss Garry Monk said after the game that he could not ask for any more from his team after they drew 1-1 with Crystal Palace to move a point nearer to safety.

A late penalty was enough to give Palace a share of the spoils on a frustrating afternoon at the Liberty especially when you factor in the strong performances of late however with illness running through the camp we can almost sometimes look at it as a point gained if you factor in all the circumstances?

I have to say that I do not necessarily see it that way myself but the comments of Monk after the game do seem to make sense although it was definitely one of those days where too many of our team had an off day and also one of those moments where the two weeks break we now have is gratefully received.

There is still work to be done between now and the end of the season to ensure that we hold our Premier League place for next season and with West Brom up next at the Liberty there are more vital games to come.

Speaking to the press after the game though Monk was a happy enough man given the circumstances as he said "I couldn't have asked for any more from the players,

"I knew the second-half would be difficult for the boys physically.

"We've had illness in the camp over the last few days. Bony's been ill, Ash was sick all last night and Pablo felt his hamstring in the first minute.

"Ash was ill today and has two badly bruised toes, but it shows his character and the leader that he is that he continues to play.

"In terms of what we've been through over the last month and the amount of games we've had, I couldn't have asked for more."

The late penalty and the ensuing red card for Chico will hurt the Swans in the next few weeks but Monk was more concerned that it was not a penalty.

"The penalty was outside the area. The lead up to the incident we should have dealt with better - we caused our own mistake with the situation with the long ball - but it's very hard to take for those players after the effort they gave.

"For me, I guess the next best thing if you can't win a game is to make sure you don't lose it. If we would have lost the game, it would have been an injustice."

With the club's exit from Europe it is now just the Premier League as our sole focus for concentration between now and the end of the season and the return to just one game a week will help us no end with around 8 plus points needed for safety from this point on.

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