Guidolin disappointed with first defeat

Francesco Guidolin was left disappointed after the Swans suffered their first defeat under his reign following a 1-0 loss to Southampton.

Shane Long's second-half header was enough to separate the two sides and inflict Swansea's first defeat in five games.

After a cagey first half, in which chances were few and far between, Long nodded home the opener in the 70th minute from James Ward-Prowse's cross.

The Swans had a penalty appeal waved away by referee Jon Moss late on as Alberto Paloschi appeared to have been shoved over inside the visitors' box by Maya Yoshida.

The defeat means the Swans remain in 16th position in the Barclays Premier League, three points above the relegation zone.

And, for the first time since taking over as Swans head coach, Guidolin was left frustrated by his side's performance.

"I'm disappointed," said Guidolin. "We prepared well for this match, but for the first time in my five matches, my team didn't play well.

"During the week we worked very well and very hard. We chose a different shape for this match because we knew Southampton play with three defenders. 

"We knew Southampton are dangerous in these situations (aerial) and they are playing well during this period. They have scored a lot of goals.

"Congratulations to Southampton because they're a good team, but we can do better.

"Neither side created many chances, but speaking about my team, I am not happy. I have to work next week to get the team ready for the next match. 

"When I arrived the table was worse, but the table is still not good. But we can only think match-by-match and not too much about the table. We just need to improve our way of play."

Meanwhile, Southampton manager Ronald Koeman was delighted that his side were able to keep their sixth clean sheet in as many games and continue their unbeaten run.

"It's not normal to have six clean sheets in a row, but we are working hard and have good defensive organisation," said Koeman. "The team is looking very comfortable.

"We didn't play well in the first half, but the second half we had better control and played better football and scored a great goal.

"We were maybe lucky with the penalty situation, but sometimes you need a little bit of luck to win the game. I felt we deserved the win."