Laudrup: We'll learn from mistakes

24th October

Michael Laudrup was left disappointed after watching his side concede a late equaliser to draw 1-1 at home to Kuban Krasnodar, but insists his side will learn from their mistakes.

The Swans were prevented from making it three wins out of three in Group A, courtesy of Djibril Cisse's late strike from the penalty spot, after Michu had put the home side a goal up earlier in the second half.

The Spanish midfielder did well to latch onto Alejandro Pozuelo's flicked through ball before poking past Kuban goalkeeper Aleksandr Belenov.

It looked as if the Swans would maintain their perfect record in the Europa League, but with seconds left on the clock, Cisse shattered that possibility.

The former Liverpool and QPR striker calmly converted from the spot after Gerhard Tremmel brought down Ibrahima Balde inside the box.

The result takes Michael Laudrup's side up to seven points at the top of Group A, one point clear of Valencia, who won convincingly in Spain, beating St. Gallen 5-1.

But despite the missed opportunity of making it three wins out of three, the Swans boss insists his side will learn from this experience.

"When you score and then concede in the last minute, it's always disappointing, but we will learn from our mistakes," said Laudrup.

"We have to remember that very few of our players have European experience, so we are still learning, which is why I feel it was so important to get into the group stage - to get as many games as possible in this competition.

"Overall, if you look at the 90 minutes, I think a draw is a fair result. Kuban defended well, and played very well on the counter-attack.

"Our first half was not that good, but these games are very tight.

"It's like when we played St. Gallen - these games are much more difficult than people may think.

"In the long run, the players will benefit from this experience."

Despite the disappointing result, the Great Dane was buoyant about his side's chances of qualifying for the next round of the European competition, having already beaten Valencia and St. Gallen in the club's two previous group fixtures.

He added: "We still have some hard work to do. We probably need three or four points from three difficult games.

"We still have one more game at home, even if it is very difficult one against Valencia, but we have seven points from three games, which I think is very good.

"We can still decide whether we go through."

Meanwhile, Kuban manager Viktor Goncharenko was pleased with his side's reaction to going a goal down.