Carlos pleased with a point

Carlos Carvalhal was pleased to put another point on the board after Swansea City fought back to claim a 1-1 draw at West Bromwich Albion.

The Swans struggled to produce their best football in a scrappy game and found themselves staring at a costly defeat after Jay Rodriguez’s 54th-minute goal put the hosts in front.

But Carvalhal’s men dug deep to secure what may be a priceless result thanks to Tammy Abraham’s 75th-minute header.

The Swans remain 15th in the Premier League table, although they are now four points clear of the drop zone rather than three.

That could change on Sunday, however, when 18th-placed Southampton go to Arsenal.

West Brom ended a run of eight successive league defeats by drawing with the Swans, but Carvalhal was in no doubt about the result being a positive one for his team.

“We have one game less to play and we have one more point,” said the Swans manager.

“Three points would have been even better, but one point is good in our situation.

“We knew this game would be more difficult after West Brom changed their manager. They had new players in their team and new ideas and the atmosphere was more positive.

“That makes it difficult for us, and at the end one point is very good for us.

“We have six games left with four at home and two away. At home normally we are more strong and more aggressive, and what we have to do in the next game (at home to Everton next weekend) is play like we did after we conceded here.”

The Swans were disappointing in the first 45 minutes against Albion, although they saw the half’s best chance go begging when Andre Ayew stabbed wide.

After the Baggies went in front, the visitors upped their intensity levels and duly hauled themselves back into the contest.

“The game was not a good game,” Carvalhal conceded.

“We expect to play the we did after they scored from the start. This is how we play – without fear, pressing the opponent, with more dynamic and creating problems for the opponent.

“I think the first half was a bit of a consequence of our last two games, against Tottenham and Manchester United.

“In both games we played a lot without the ball and I think we brought some of that into this game. We were trying to protect our goal and we did that pretty well, but with the ball we must play better.

“When we conceded the goal, we played with freedom. We tried to run and play to achieve the point and we did that.”

Carvalhal spoke to referee Roger East at full time about the Albion goal, which he felt should have been disallowed for handball before Rodriguez tapped home.

“It was handball,” Carvalhal said. “The home crowd shouted for a penalty because they thought it was my player who handled it, but it was their player.

“It’s very difficult for the referee – he makes mistakes, I make mistakes, the players make mistakes. I just asked about that one decision.”