It wasn’t the best of afternoons for Michael Duff and his Swansea City side at Deepdale, Preston yesterday. The result for many was expected, some travelled with faith, others with hope that the words and the training of the last week would bring some positivity to Swansea City’s season.

Our friends at WhoScored.Com analysed the game and have presented statistics which do give some hope, and a better claim on the game in the cold light of another day. The basics are clear though, the Swans lost the game 2-1 through a variety of factors throughout the ninety seven minutes of play.

You would be right to be dismayed at the strengths and weaknesses of the Swans. It was again a pretty mundane effort at times, although before the Swans went ahead they had a good foothold in the game. The goal came from some dominant pressure which resulted in Charlie Patino finding Harrison Ashby who had a ‘relatively’ simple task of placing ball in to the Preston net. Before that there had been a few horror moments that the Swans managed to get over, but better finishing could have seen PNE at least two goals in front.

Stats can be used to divert the attention of the reader in to believing something when the opposite is evident. In this case both sides shared a pretty equal measure of opportunities throughout the game. What we do see though is Preston with a better conversion rate. That’s obvious they won the game. However these stats don’t tell you the tactical change made by PNE a boss Ryan Lowe. He noted the weakness in the Swans defence on the away sides left flank. He dropped Brad Potts to a more conventional right back moving Duane Holmes on to the right flank ready to expose the Swans weakness. With another sub Ali McCann the tactical change worked superbly well rewarding the home side with a goal almost immediately. Liam Cullen was seen signalling to the bench the issues the side were having which jump started Duff in to life.

As you would expect the Swans had the monopoly on passing, almost two hundred more than their hosts. However, their lack of effectiveness was displayed at almost walking pace at times. Thiswas to take the sting out of the game as Preston were far more rapid in their thought and passing. The hosts were also far more physical, Jerry Yates for the Swans had a very poor game and didn’t look up for the fight at all. He just couldn’t match the physicality of Preston and found himself looking to the referee on several occasions for support. It wasn’t there because there was nothing wrong. The pace of the Swans is a real concern though. There is very little if any in the side. Josh Key as it stands is possibly the quickest at the club on the ball. Nathan Wood, who is unlikely to be at Swansea after the transfer window, he by all accounts has a lot of pace. But from his position in defence we rarely see that in evidence. What the club need and pronto is pace and more of an outlet up front to either be a foil for Jerry Yates, or indeed replace him when games turn as physical as yesterdays did. Mykola Kukharevych did display that in his ten or so minutes on the pitch forging out two opportunities. He likes a battle too.

Ryan Ledson did just enough in the first half to rough up both Liam Cullen and Charlie Patino, the midfielder far more aggressive than his counterparts around him. It earned him a yellow card but also disrupted the Swans flow. It was an early warning of the physicality to come. The Swans couldn’t deal with it.

Of course the best part of this game wasn’t on the pitch, but they certainly deserve a mention. The Jack Army were heard booming out their repertoire across Deepdale all afternoon. Their fervent support as dedicated as ever. It isn’t back to the drawing board for the Swans but more questions have been answered on the frailty or otherwise of the current squad. There needs to be some serious questions asked before Bournemouth turn up at the Swansea.Com Stadium in a League Cup second round tie on Tuesday night ( Kick Off 7.30pm )

Artwork by Swansea Independent & Photographs with permission Swansea City AFC

Swansea City Polls