SWANS: ‘More useful that we speak about football’ — Matos on the Cabango challenge

Vitor Matos declined to be drawn into a row over Ben Cabango’s booking after Swansea City’s goalless draw with Wrexham, suggesting there had been a challenge worth discussing at the other end too.

The Swansea captain, on as a substitute for his first appearance since a heel injury, was cautioned for a challenge on Callum O’Hare that Wrexham manager Phil Parkinson believed merited a red card.

“I really didn’t see it. At the moment, it seems a clear foul. If he’s a yellow or a red, maybe the ref will answer me. I don’t know,” the head coach said.

“There was another challenge on Josh Key as well. That was an elbow on him. If we discuss this, we can spend time. I think it’s more useful for everyone that we speak about football.

“If Phil is not happy, I cannot do anything about it.”

‘We could have won another game’

The point extended a run that has brought one goal conceded in five games, and Matos took the positive first.

“I’m happy with that. I think keeping clean sheets is quite important. The mentality as well,” he said.

“In the other way, of course, I’m not happy, because we could have won another game. We had the chances for that as well.

“In the end, it was a quite physical game. We knew it could be like that.”

He also pointed to the surface at the Swansea.com Stadium.

“Our pitch didn’t help as well. It was quite heavy, so it was hard for us to keep our momentum and keep the quality where we want and the speed we want. That made the game a little bit rustier,” Matos said.

“It was quite a battle in the middle as well from both sides. So, in the end, 0-0, one point for each team.”

His analysis of why the breakthrough never came was more technical.

“We lost a few balls on the last turn that didn’t allow us to arrive with more players there. The last pass was not really happening with a lot of the play,” he said.

“We kept control, but the next action of dribbling and attacking the pockets, or the centre-half over the back five, is quite important. When you play against a back five, you will not really be able to do that at times.

“Then in some moments we created one or two chances that could give us a chance to score. We didn’t take enough, so we move on.”

What pleased him was the refusal to force it.

“Being consistent is massive, keeping the desire is massive. Not getting frustrated when the game gets a little bit different from what we want is massive as well,” Matos said.

“It’s important to stay competitive in the moment whatever the game, and I think we are showing that.”

‘There’s still a long way to go’

The draw leaves Swansea a point clear at the top of the Championship, though the head coach was quick to put the early standings in perspective.

“It doesn’t mean a lot. There’s still a long way to go,” he said.

“It’s more important that we keep this desire, this mentality to fight for every game. That’s what we need to do as well, because we have a really tough trip to Southampton.

“If we keep the mentality, of course we are really close to compete, and that’s what we want.”

With a squad now deep enough to change games from the bench, the message is that everyone will be needed.

“The next steps are to keep improving, keep using the squad. All the players need to be ready to make an impact from the bench or starting. That’s what we want in terms of togetherness, building that type of culture,” Matos said.

“We are doing that early in the season, but there are a lot of things to come.”

Swansea travel to Southampton on Tuesday night, still without Ross Stewart, before Burnley visit next weekend.