Swansea City’s Ki Sung Yueng insists his teammates will not allow defeat at Brighton to undermine their bid to avoid relegation.
The Korean midfielder was part of a Swans side that crashed to a 4-1 defeat to Brighton on Saturday as their 10-match unbeaten run – including six Premier League games – came to an abrupt halt.
Ki made no excuses, but insists the Swans – who have 10 matches left to accumulate a likely necessary 13 further points – will not allow a blip to become a slump.
“We are disappointed. To lose 4-1 is frustrating for us and we cannot come out and say we did well,” said Ki.
“But it was our first loss in six games in the league so we don’t need to let our heads go down.
“The next game is crucial for us. We have to keep our heads up, analyse what we did wrong at Brighton and look forward.
“We must look to the next league game against West Ham and make sure we get a result then.
“We conceded an easy first goal. We were in the game after that and passing the ball well, but we were taking risks going forward.
“Brighton hit us on the counter-attack and it was difficult after they made it 2-0. We are disappointed, of course, but we have to look forward.
“In every single game now until the last game of the season, we have to keep fighting and get as many points as we can so we stay in the league.”
Manager Carlos Carvalhal admitted his gamble backfired as Swansea sank back into the relegation zone.
The Swans boss threw on attackers Andre Ayew, Luciano Narsingh and Tammy Abraham with his side trailing to Glenn Murray’s first-half penalty. But Brighton simply exploited the gaps at the back as Murray’s second, and goals from Anthony Knockaert and Jurgen Locadia ended the unbeaten run.
“When we were losing 1-0 I was thinking we must change things, so we put Ayew in attack,” said Carvalhal. “We took the risks because we were not happy to lose and we wanted to try to win. So we put Luciano and Tammy on. It was a big bet and with a big bet you can win lots of money or you can lose lots of money.
“We knew if we scored one we could win, but we also knew if they scored another on the counter-attack it would be difficult, and that’s what happened. That’s football, that’s the life of a manager. If it works the manager is a genius. We tried everything to try to win, but Brighton deserved to win. We lost the gamble.”
Brighton went ahead in the 19th minute after Mike van der Hoorn caught the back of Murray’s leg, sending the striker tumbling to the deck. Murray stepped up and confidently tucked away the spot-kick, sending Lukasz Fabianski the wrong way.
Both sides hit the woodwork before the interval, Lewis Dunk thumping a header against the crossbar and Jordan Ayew firing against a post. But moments after Abraham’s introduction, Murray swept in his second, and Knockaert latched onto a Pascal Gross through-ball to make it three.
Swansea pulled one back when Abraham’s shot was deflected in by Dunk, but Brighton sub Locadia had the last word.
