Swansea City manager Paul Clement has bemoaned the injuries his side picked up during the 2-1 loss to Hull City on Saturday.
Top scorer Fernando Llorente and club stalwart Angel Rangel had to be subbed off in the first half, while Lukasz Fabianski and Martin Olsson also picked up injuries but were able to play on.
Jordan Ayew was brought on up front, while Jordi Amat was forced to play out of position at right-back, which disrupted Swansea’s flow.
What did Clement say?
"I think the injuries did hurt us in the first-half," he said.
"Not necessarily because of who came off and who came on but more that when you go into the second-half and you want those options available to you, to make offensive changes or defensive changes, two of them are already gone."
He continued by saying: "I was more disappointed with our defending. Our shape has been very good, we've been very compact and in the first-half, for the first 20 to 25 minutes, we did frustrate them with our solid defensive shape [but] for the two goals we were much too open."
How much of an effect did the injuries have?
Up until the first substitution, Swansea edged possession (51.5%) had two shots, one of which was a chance that Wayne Routledge could have scored from. The expected goals on that shot was 0.26, their third biggest chance of the game.
From the second change to the end of the game, Hull had five shots on target compared to Swansea’s two.
In the time before the first change, Swansea were yet to be dispossessed. After the second change had been made, they went on to be dispossessed seven times to Hull’s five, via Whoscored.
Swansea lost their outlet in Llorente. When Swansea were pressed high, Fabianski would feel comfortable hitting it long to their target man, and it was effective. Ayew doesn’t however possess the same aerial threat.
Kyle Naughton was injured for this game, so Rangel was drafted in. When he was taken off after 32 minutes and Amat was brought on, Hull knew to target him.
Kamil Grosicki saw a lot more of the ball on the left-hand side and became a serious threat.
The two injuries aren’t the sole factor why Swansea lost. Routledge missed two big chances, while Oumar Niasse scored his two big chances. They definitely played a part though.
Clement confirmed that Llorente has a dead leg, while Rangel has a foot or ankle injury that he doesn’t know the severity of.
Olsson however “Has a contact injury on his ankle. I would have taken him off if I had a substitution left. We hope it will not keep him out for too long.” Clement said.