Frustrated Duff wants improved mentality as Swans throw away lead to lose in Preston defeat 

The defeat, which was the Swans second of the EFL Championship campaign on the road leaves the club in 20^th position and winless in the table after four rounds of matches. 

Despite a strong showing which saw Harrison Ashby finish off a flowing team move to put the Swans ahead at the break, a strong Preston fightback saw second-half finishes from Andrew Hughes and Duane Holmes give the home side all three points.

Whilst the Swans had the better of the chances to equalise through Jamie Patterson and Ollie Cooper late on, they would head back on the long trip to South Wales empty-handed. 

Frustrated, Northern Irishman Duff feels his side should have killed off the game and should not have given the Lilywhites a chance to get back in the match in the second-half.

“They did everything we asked them to do. For an hour we were totally in control of the game, but there were times when the final ball could have been better,” said Duff.

“We worked on a few things and thought we could get our wing-backs in behind theirs and it was a good goal.

“We had another good chance where we cut them open with Jay Fulton, but it is that final pass that we need at the minute because we really needed that second goal.

“They changed to 4-4-2 and stuck it down our throats and we had a poor 20 minutes. It’s frustrating because we have done a lot of work on the training ground which you could see in the first-half particularly. 

“We go up 1-0 but stop doing the things that have got us in the lead. It’s a mentality, you can’t just go and win, you have to win both halves, you have to go and get the second goal and stay on the front foot.

“That’s what we have to change, people aren’t going to just come along and give us a win. Compared to the last away performance it was better with and without the ball. Ultimately, in the key moments, we’ve come out on the wrong side of things again.

“We said to them at half-time you can make this game as easy and as difficult as you want. We can tweak a few things and make it as easy as we can, or we can come off script and make it difficult and that’s what happened.

“It is shifting the mentality in the football club that you have to see the game out by hook or by crook. It’s two crosses in the box again, things that we have been working on, set plays again.

“The frustration is that if we get the second goal it could be three or four. I thought it was an okay performance. It isn’t so we’re here after a defeat again and it’s back to work and crack on.”

The Swans now host Premier League side Bournemouth in the Carabao Cup second round on Tuesday night before welcoming Bristol City to the Swansea.com Stadium next Saturday.

“It will be a tough game. If you look at the Premier League, the gulf has got bigger and bigger,” continued Duff.

“Burnley got 100 odd points in this league last year and they are in the top three favourites for relegation in that league because the levels have gone back to the old days due to finances.

“It is an opportunity for some and is a challenge to improve on certain things.

“We won’t make wholesale changes. It will probably be similar to last time. I don’t envisage us making 11 changes, but there will be two or three depending on injuries and what we want to look at.” 

(Lead image Swansea City FC)