Luke Williams expressed disappointment after Swansea City’s 2-1 loss to Sheffield United, feeling his side deserved more for their efforts.
Florian Bianchini’s header gave Swansea a deserved lead at half-time after Ben Cabango’s initial effort was saved.
However, the match turned early in the second half after Rhian Brewster’s equaliser and Harry Darling’s controversial red card for a foul on the striker shortly after the restart.
Harrison Burrows converted the resulting penalty, and despite a spirited late push, the Swans couldn’t find an equaliser, with the win for Sheffield United sent them to the top of the Championship table.
“I am really hurt by the result, but I thought the response after an awful performance in the derby was a really good one,” said the head coach.
“I am disappointed for the players. I thought the first-half performance was outstanding. To be honest, we played almost 40 minutes with one less player against one of the best sides in the division and we still tried to get back on terms.
“We did everything we could to try and get back in the game, so I am very happy with the players and devastated with the result.
“They started the second half really well, they got the equaliser before the red card but I think we would have been very competitive in the game if we had not suffered the red card.
“I don’t want to say too much on the red card, I have not had a chance to watch it back, but I think if you look at the reactions it doesn’t seem to me that any of the players think that is a straight red card.
“Even after that, I think we were as likely as they were to score and it’s hard because I want to praise the players so much more but it’s hard to do that when we don’t have the result, and I am hurt for our supporters too. They are in pain because of how we performed in the previous game. I am sure they can respect the performance but we don’t have the celebration of a win.”
Here is the full post-match reaction from Luke Williams: