Paul Clement disappointed with Swansea City defending

Paul Clement bemoaned his side's defending after Swansea City were beaten 2-1 at Hull City.

Clement had billed the trip to the KCOM Stadium as a must-not-lose fixture for a team who have been on the up since he took over at the beginning of January.

But on a day when they were disrupted by injuries and failed to take their chances, the Swans ended up suffering a frustrating defeat.

"The thing I have to be most disappointed with is our defending for their two goals," Clement said.

"We were very open for both goals, but we had spoken before the game and at half-time about being compact.

"We wanted to make it difficult for them to get through us.

"In the first half we were compact. We said at half-time that we have to stay that way because they needed to go for the win, but we were not compact for either goal. We have to be very disappointed with that."

The Swans' failure to smother their hosts was not Clement's only disappointment on what turned into a difficult day.

Wayne Routledge had what proved to be the best chance of a tight first half early on, when Gylfi Sigurdsson sent the winger through on goal but his shot was saved by Eldin Jakupovic.

The Swans lost Angel Rangel just after the half hour and, with Kyle Naughton already on the treatment table, Jordi Amat was forced to fill in at right-back.

And there was a heavy blow just before half-time when Fernando Llorente limped off clutching his thigh.

Nevertheless, the Swans came again after the break, and another big chance arrived when Jakupovic could only parry Tom Carroll's cross, but this time Routledge fired over from point-blank range.

Hull would make the Swans pay. Substitute Oumar Niasse put the hosts in front at the end of a swift counter-attack, and the Senegalese frontman swept home his second eight minutes later.

The Swans responded when Alfie Mawson nodded in his fourth goal for the club from a Sigurdsson free-kick in the first minute of stoppage time, but there was no time to find an equaliser.

"We pushed too late," Clement said. "At 80 minutes, with four minutes of added time, there are still 14 minutes left. 

"But we didn't really push until 88 or 89 minutes.

"The injuries hurt us. It's never ideal having to make two changes before half-time because you are then short of options if you want to make tactical changes in the second half. 

"We made one offensive change after going 1-0 down, then our left-back (Martin Olsson) gets injured and we are playing with 10-and-a-half players."

Clement also bemoaned the Swans' wastefulness when their opportunities came.

He added: "We had a big chance in the first half. We were looking good at that stage. There was a lovely ball from Sigurdsson but Wayne was unable to convert.

"Then we had another big chance at 0-0 in the second half. Carroll put the final ball in and it was another big chance for Routledge.

"We have been clinical recently, but we were not today."

Clement revealed Llorente has suffered a dead leg, while Rangel has a foot problem which will be assessed.

Olsson would have come off as a result of his ankle complaint had the Swans not used all three substitutes by the time he got injured.

"It's a contact injury," Clement said. "He managed to play on so hopefully it won't keep him out for too long."

Defeat means the Swans are now just three points clear of the relegation places heading into next weekend's trip to Bournemouth.

"It's not a surprise that things can swing so quickly," Clement said. 

"As quickly as you make progress, you can go back the other way. That's why this is league is so demanding and exciting. Now we have to bounce back quickly."