Hoops midfielder Rumarn Burrell’s first-half close-range volley was enough to settle the contest, but the encounter against the inform Hoops was made ten times harder for the Swans having been forced to play an hour of the match with ten men.
Yalcouye would be dismissed by referee John Busby for violent conduct 11 minutes before the break after an altercation with Rangers captain Steve Cook – who Sheehan later felt had made the most of the situation.
Sheehan’s side, without a home win now in five games, toiled but were well-beaten on the night, and would fail to create any significant chances until the 90th minute of the match.
Zan Vipotnik’s effort from an acute angle testing visiting goalkeeper Paul Nardi – a bystander of the game for long periods, into action to make a comfortable save.
Rangers, in contrast, much like Southampton in the Swans previous fixture, played with energy and conviction and could have been out of sight by the end. A combination of the goalkeeping exploits of Lawrence Vigouroux denying forward Illias Chair, the woodwork, and the away side missing several guilt-edged chances keeping Sheehan’s side in the contest.
“We didn’t start the game well. You don’t get time to wake up in the Championship,” said the Swans boss after the match.
“They were clinical and punished us scoring with one of their first opportunities, then I think we reacted, woke up a bit but then obviously the sending off happens and it’s an uphill battle.
“When you go down to ten men it is always really difficult.
“But we regrouped at half-time and made a few changes and I think there’s a lot of positives to take out of that second half in terms of playing for 60 minutes with 10 men and having opportunities near the end to salvage something.
Sheehan would be particularly unhappy with the dismissal of 19-year-old Yalcouye, who now faces a three-match ban, feeling that the on-loan Brighton man was hard done by after squaring face-to-face with Rangers captain Steve Cook.
“Steve Cook and Malik came together, he [Yalcouye] has been enticed, and their player [Cook] went down like he got hit by an absolute truck.
“I think you see a young 19-year-old lad up against a very, very experienced player and I think that’s the way it happened.
“I haven’t seen the incident totally, but I don’t think he’s headbutted [him], but I think both players at different instances have stuck their heads together and probably whoever has that momentum.
“But the reaction of jumping back. That’s an experienced player or doing what has to be done, really, and we’ve suffered from that tonight.
“But look, Malik is a young player. We have him on loan from Brighton and he’s a talent and we’ve suffered from that tonight, but I’m not going to throw anybody under the bus or anything.”
The Rangers defeat means the Swans are down to 16th in the Championship having won only once in seven league matches.
“Noone likes losing, we really need to find that formula of winning.
“We have to find a way of being more clinical when we are in these [offensive] areas
“We are close in some games; we had a point the other day [against Southampton], which was potentially fortunate for us. Today we were hoping to kick on, but it wasn’t meant to be.
“We now have to dust ourselves down because the Championship is relentless.”
Sheehan’s side are back in action at home on Saturday when they face a Norwich City outfit who have dropped into the bottom three having taken only one point from their past six games.
[Lead image: Swansea City FC]
