It never is the best of Sunday mornings when the Swans end up defeated the day before, especially when something could have been taken from the game. Matos sees the character — now Swansea need the points and that is imperative as we have thirteen days off as Swansea fans and Wales becomes the focus.

Vítor Matos stood firmly behind his Swansea City players after defeat at Birmingham, and there was good reason to recognise their efforts. Playing for more than an hour with ten men, recovering from going behind and remaining competitive at St Andrew’s took some doing. The frustration is that Swansea still left with nothing. After the late disappointment at Portsmouth, another game ended with the Swans contemplating what might have been.

Matos felt the opening stages showed his side playing with confidence and purpose. “I felt we started the game very well, we showed big personality and we were playing the way we want to play,” he said. That assessment was supported by the chances. Ross Stewart had a penalty saved and Gonçalo Franco headed against the post before Marko Stamenić’s dismissal changed the afternoon. Swansea had given themselves opportunities to lead, but had taken neither.

The red card inevitably became a major part of the post-match discussion. Matos believed Stamenić had played the ball and disputed whether there had been direct contact with Ethan Laird. He also questioned the consistency of decisions, referring to challenges in the previous game which had left Swansea players injured. Those are understandable questions. From Swansea’s perspective, the contrast clearly frustrated their head coach. His assessment of the tackle, however, remains his interpretation of an incident which left his team facing a very different contest.

What followed gave Matos grounds to defend his players. His half-time switch to five at the back was intended to deal with Birmingham’s threat out wide, and Swansea stayed close enough to find an equaliser through Christoph Klarer’s own goal. There was organisation and determination in that recovery. The concern is how to turn those qualities into points when a match reaches its decisive stages. Swansea had done so much of the difficult work, only to lose to another late goal.

Matos made his expectations clear.

“You need to play to win no matter what situation you are in. That’s the real heart and soul of a good team.” That is an approach supporters can get behind. Even with ten men, Swansea needed to retain an attacking threat and give Birmingham something to think about. Their willingness to do so was one of the afternoon’s positives.

Stewart also received his manager’s backing after the penalty miss. Matos praised the striker’s contribution and accepted that taking a spot-kick carries the possibility of failure. “I cannot ask for more from him.”

The more worrying development was Franco’s late withdrawal. Matos confirmed that the midfielder had felt a problem and needed assessment. Until that assessment is complete, any claim about the seriousness of the injury would be premature. There was a separate issue involving objects thrown towards Lawrence Vigouroux. Matos said two cigarette lighters (below with Laird theatrics) had been taken to the fourth official and condemned what had happened.

“It’s more than clear that it is not acceptable.”

The throwing of objects yesterday was clearly with an intent to injure Swansea keeper, Lawrence Vigouroux. The incensed Birmingham support at their own teams incompetence and cheating seemingly worthy of an attempt to injure. Outside too fans physically clashed with each other leaving a sour taste in the mouth. Of course there is always room for passion in football but provocation will always result in a response. Sadly that’s how it is. During one incident the police clearly went for the easier targets arresting and detaining Swansea fans. And in the ground further issues were created. The younger Swans fans finding out all about the West Midlands Police as many have over the years. (Below) Hopefully they will use the same determination in identifying the culprits throwing missiles from the home end.

Matos did have a wider message and that was one of confidence in the squad and its ability to recover, while insisting he was offering no excuses for the defeat. For the Indy, there was enough in this performance to acknowledge a response from the players. They competed, adapted and gave themselves a chance.

The international break now offers time to assess the injuries and examine why promising positions are slipping away. Matos has made his belief in this group clear. Swansea’s next challenge is to make that belief count on the scoreboard.

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