Swans fans were left frustrated again yesterday evening as chances to score were not taken up as the regular pattern of the season continued.Three times the home side hit the bar, one effort from Ronald seemed easier to score.

We saw Vitor Matos choose a side which went up against Birmingham City with a confidence that if they took the chances they created it would be another three points at home. There were some surprises in the initial starting eleven with Jay Fulton again Included. His inclusion despite having two right sided defenders on the bench. Ethan Galbraith started in defence. It shouldn’t surprise anyone that Jay Fulton has become a fixture of late within the Swans squad. Every manager he has played under and most certainly since Graham Potter has seen the qualities he brings to a game. Not every time granted but his performance yesterday for Swansea City was almost faultless.

Vitor Matos who had assistant Ryan Maye with him for the first time looked for positives after the game. “There is frustration, but I really liked a lot of the performance. The first half was one of the best first halves we have had. We were dominant with the ball and with our pressing, we had the right timings and movements to create chances against a good opponent. The second half was much more even, we needed to control the game. We were still able to create chances, we were unlucky because we were playing with 10 men when we conceded the goal and we have hit the crossbar three times. That is football and we need to move on, to keep developing”

Have to disagree with the ‘That is football’ quote from Vitor because ‘That is every week’ is the correct phrase. However, we are seeing a side now that wants to score with every move. Every pass is looking to seek out another white shirt to progress forwards. Sometimes it is too forced as we saw yesterday on several occasions from Ethan Galbraith but that’s a positive as he is looking to create. Fulton got the Sky man of the match award, and justifiably so. His head after two incredibly brave stops may well be slightly offset this morning. ** His last ditch tackle on substitute Stansfield (below) saved the point and the ever reliable Lawrence Vigouroux saved that intervention for a corner. It has to be said that on three occasions in this game Vigouroux came to the Swans aid. One save he somehow got to from a corner punching the ball clear. He is by far the best keeper in this league. A real symbol of professionalism.

The Swans rose to sixteenth after this draw ten points off the play offs and six points from the bottom three. It has to be said this morning that the Swans next game on Tuesday night (7:45pm) against Blackburn Rovers has to be marked down as a home win. More space is required between the Swans and those relegation places.

⚽️ Swans: Lawrence Vigouroux 8 Ethan Galbraith 7 Ben Cabango 6 (c), Cameron Burgess 7 Josh Tymon 6 Jay Fulton 9 Goncalo Franco 8 (Joel Ward 83) 5 Melker Widell 8(Malick Yalcouye 67) 5 Ronald 7 Jisung Eom 7 (Zeidane Inoussa 76) 5 Zan Vipotnik 7 (Liam Cullen 67) 6

Unused Substitutes: Andy Fisher, Josh Key, Marko Stamenic, Bobby Wales, Ollie Cooper.

⚽️ Blues: James Beadle, Christoph Klarer (c), Phil Neumann, Tommy Doyle, Paik Seung-Ho, Kyogo Furuhashi (Jay Stansfield 57), Patrick Roberts, Tomoki Iwata, Lewis Koumas, Kai Wagner, Marvin Ducksch (Willum Willumson 85).

Unused Substitutes: Ryan Allsop, Scott Wright (also used) Alfons Sampsted, Kanya Fujimoto, Menzi Mazwi, Dan Isichei, William Burrell.

⚽️ Referee: Tom Nield : 3/10 Had an horrendous last twenty minutes spoiling his overall score. Missed a blatant penalty. Crazy.

Attendance: 16,753

** Editor : When Swansea City supporters had a representative side in the indoor floodlit league in Gloucestershire, one David Naylor on two occasions I can recall stopped the ball by placing his head on the floor in front of an attacker. Jay Fulton had nothing on our Dave.

⚽️ Vitor Matos reflects on the game.

⚽️ Highlights

Photographs : D.Johnson, Reuters tag:reuters.com,2025:newsml_MT1NURPHO000EGVA21:741624720, Swansea Independent