LEON BRITTON has warned it’s going to get ugly at Swansea as they fight their way out of the relegation battle.
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| Ki Sung-Yeung scored a scrappy winner as Swansea beat West Brom 1-0 on Boxing Day |
Swansea secured their first win in two months with a battling performance against West Brom on Boxing Day to lift themselves a point clear of the relegation zone.
Ki Sung-Yueng’s scrappy goal after nine minutes proved to be enough to earn a first victory since October 24 and under the guidance of Alan Curtis, who took over as caretaker manager following the sacking of Garry Monk earlier this month.
Curtis has restored long-serving duo Britton and defender Angel Rangel to the side in a bid to help them return to the form which brought the club its highest top-flight finish last season.
But the Boxing Day victory was a long way from the so-called ‘Swansea Way’ of attractive passing football played under Roberto Martinez, Michael Laudrup and Brendan Rodgers. They managed only two shots on target over 90 minutes.
Midfielder Britton, who is approaching 500 appearances for the club, admits they won’t always be able to play good football if they are to avoid the drop.
“You have to mix it up at times,” he said. “It’s not going to be pretty all the time and pleasing on the eye. Sometimes you have to dig in, win your tackles and win your individual battles.
“That’s part of the job. You’ve got to be prepared to do that. If you don’t, you’ll come away with nothing.
“We would rather be passing and pleasing on the eye, that’s the ideal way to pick up three points but in our situation sometimes it is a case of digging in and grinding out a results rather than great patterns of play.
“When people talk about Swansea they always talk about passing and movement and great football but you have to show you can mix it up. We are not the biggest team but we showed against West Brom that we can dig in and there are going to be other games when we are going to have to show that kind of character.”
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| Swansea legend Leon Britton admits they'll have to get ugly if they want to stay up |
Swansea had hoped to have a new manager in charge in time for their clash with West Ham on December 20 but now look certain to go into the New Year with 61-year-old Curtis at the helm.
After failed moves for former Liverpool boss Rodgers and ex-Argentina manager Marcelo Bielsa, chairman Huw Jenkins is yet to find a suitable candidate.
But handing out a defeat to West Brom has stalled the Midlands club, prompting skipper Darren Fletcher to warn they risk being dragged into the relegation dogfight if they cannot see off struggling Newcastle at The Hawthorns on Monday.
They won just once in eight League games and now st three points above the relegation zone.
“The league is so tight that if you win a couple of games you can find yourself in a real good position, but if you lose a couple you get sucked back in,” said Fletcher.
“We realise that, but we know we are capable of winning games. We didn’t deserve to lose the last two but we need to put it right against Newcastle.
“There’s not a long week lingering in your mind about the game before, you have to really recover and focus on Newcastle. We will be desperate to put things right and start beating sides below us at home.”
SWANSEA (4-2-3-1): Fabianski 7; Rangel 4, Fernandez 7, Williams 7, Taylor 6; Britton 8 (Shelvey 90), Ki 7; Routledge 6 (Barrow 88), Sigurdsson 7, Montero 5 (Cork 46, 6); Ayew 7. Booked: Rangel. Goal: Ki 9. NEXT UP: Crystal Palace (a), P, Monday.
WEST BROM (4-1-4-1): Myhill 4; Dawson 5, McAuley 5, Olsson 6 (Berahino 59, 6), Brunt 6; Evans 6; Gardner 5 (Sessegnon 59, 5), Fletcher 7, Yacob 6 (McManaman 81), Morrison 6; Lambert 5. Booked: Olsson, Yacob, McManaman. NEXT UP: Newcastle (h), PL, Monday.
Referee: Roger East (Wiltshire).
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