Vincent Kompany says Swansea City are "doing a lot right" at present and admits Russell Martin's men provided his side with one of their hardest tests of the season.
The Clarets were two goals to the good early on at the Swansea.com Stadium courtesy of Ian Maatsen's pair of efforts from outside the box. Swansea responded well to going behind and pulled a goal back through Ollie Cooper, although they were unable to add to their tally of rescuing 14 points from losing positions this season.
Nevertheless, there were plenty of positives for the Swans to take from their performance against the Championship leaders who have now won 10 of their last 11 league matches, and Manchester City legend Kompany admits he loves watching the Swans given their style under the current coaching regime.
"I knew this was going to be a difficult game," said the Belgian. "There was more aggression in their game and you could see they were a team putting up a real fight. They were together.
"They have always been a great side for me and I love watching them. There isn’t a single team in the league, not even us, who can manipulate the ball like they do. We went to Old Trafford [against Manchester United in the Carabao Cup] and pressed and we found it more difficult in the first half here.
"On the other side of things, when they were aggressive like they were today they look very complete to me. We have got a team that is doing well and so we love the challenge. It has certainly been one of the hardest games of the season for us.
"When I see there are only five points between 16th and the play-offs, who knows what could happen? I just feel that when I watch them play they are doing a lot right. Eventually it is about keeping the ball out of your net and putting it in the net, so we will see."
Meanwhile, Russell Martin gave a strong hint that Morgan Whittaker will be recalled from his season-long loan deal with Plymouth Argyle. The versatile attacker has enjoyed a fine stint with the Pilgrims having netted nine times to help fire Steven Schumacher's men to the summit of the League One standings. But the 21-year-old now appears destined to return to the Swansea.com Stadium this month.
When asked if there was scope for Whittaker's loan at Home Park to be cut short, Martin responded: "I didn't think there was but I think there probably is because the ownership group and Josh [Marsh] and Julian [Winter] have an opinion on that with Morgan. It has to be imminent because of the clause in the loan. There's been a lot of conversation about it. If he comes back, he'll be welcomed into the group.
"He has been playing at Plymouth in what is probably the most competitive position on the pitch for us, with Olivier Ntcham, Luke Cundle, Ollie Cooper, Jay Fulton, Joel Piroe when he plays there. I think it's a really tough position to get in but, if he does come back, he comes back with the mentality that he wants to fight and get in the team and we'll have to take it from there. I don't have a definitive answer for you on that.
"He's done brilliantly so if he comes back, hopefully he can build on that momentum and we'll see where it takes him here. I think his preference would be stay and play football where he's guaranteed every week, but there's a bigger picture. He's our asset and there's a bigger picture in terms of what Josh and Julian see in terms of his value and what he might be able to add here. I'm quite relaxed about it either way."
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