Russell Martin admits Swansea City's poor game management in the second half proved costly as they were beaten 3-1 by Middlesbrough.
The Swans more than held their own in the first half and led through what was Joel Piroe's 14th goal of the campaign, with Michael Carrick's men mustering just one shot on target in the opening 45 minutes.
But Boro were far more lethal after the restart and, after Jay Fulton had a goal disallowed for a marginal offside call, saw Aaron Ramsey, Cameron Archer and Chuba Akpom all bulge the net to earn the visitors all three points.
"They had a lot of the ball in the first half, they're a good team with a lot of athleticism and good players," he said. "We knew it'd be a tough game and that there'd be times we'd have to suffer without the ball and work really hard, which the lads did.
"I was really pleased with so much of it. We looked dangerous on the turnover and scored a goal with really high quality. Then we actually started the second half better than we played in the first half and we score a goal which I'm still not convinced is offside, it's such a tight call. I'm sure someone will have a better angle than what I've seen.
"At 2-0 it's a completely different game. But we don't manage the game well enough after that, we conceded from a counter attack from our corner and a second phase from their corner which kind of sums up where we're at really.
"At 2-1, we were so in it. They posed a real threat on the counter attack in the second half, but then we go to ground in the box and give a penalty away and it took the whole energy out of the game.
"The crowd were great today, but that third goal took the atmosphere and energy out of the players and the crowd and that was the game done. Frustrating. Really frustrating. But I'm pleased with so much of what I saw.
"Last week and this week, albeit we've lost, it's felt a lot better than the Rotherham game when we drew and the Stoke game when we lost. I hope that the players and the crowd will take something from that, we certainly have as a coaching staff."
Ollie Cooper was withdrawn at half-time of the defeat to Boro through injury, although Martin has allayed concerns over the fitness of the 23-year-old, who is hoping to be included in Rob Page's Wales squad this week.
"He had a knock, he wasn't quite himself after he got a kick in the first half," Martin said of Cooper. "He felt he could go on but it just wasn't worth risking. He wasn't able to produce his best performance after he took a big whack. It was a bit of a precaution really. We've got two really important games coming up and obviously there's the Wales squad announcement as well which we hope he'll be in.
"I thought Olivier Ntcham did really well on the ball when he came on, he gave us a bit of athleticism and energy which was good. Hopefully Ollie will be alright for Tuesday."
Swansea return to action against Millwall at The Den on Tuesday night.
READ NEXT:
