Monk rues missed chances

Garry Monk rued missed chances after his side were held to a 1-1 draw with Sunderland.

Ki Sung-Yueng made a goal-scoring return for the Swans to earn Monk's men a point after Jermain Defoe's first-half opener.

But the Swans boss felt it could have been more for his side, who saw chances go begging in the first period, before Defoe rifled home from the edge of the box just moments after Ki had an effort of his own ruled out for offside.

The Swans fought back in the second period, and the South Korea captain was not to be denied twice when he turned home Kyle Naughton's pin-point cross with a superb diving header to level the scores.

Substitute Nelson Oliveira then went close to scoring a late winner for the Swans, only to be denied by Costel Pantilimon.

"The result was frustrating because we had enough good chances to take three points," said Monk. 

"It was disappointing that their only shot was a goal, which set us back a bit because we looked like the ones that would take the lead. We gave them a little too much space, but it was the only mistake we made. 

"We had to show a bit of character to come back in the second half.

"Our best chances were when we moved the ball quicker. And I said to them at half-time that, if we did that more often, we would get a goal hopefully.

"We got a good equaliser and tried to push to get the second, but it wasn't to be today. We had enough chances to score two or three, but the ball didn't want to go in the back of the net.

"We were the better team overall. You have to give Sunderland credit because they got their goal and defended well at times, but we needed to be a bit sharper." 

Meanwhile, it was mixed emotions for Sunderland boss Gus Poyet, who praised striker Jermain Defore for his second goal in three games since signing for the Black Cats last month.

"It's a tricky one," said Poyet. "My character says no, but I need to be realistic. We had a very good first half, but Pantilimon made some very good saves, so we can't say we deserved to win.

"But we are a different team with Jermain. He makes the rest of the team believe they can win, so we are a different side to a few weeks ago."