Garry Monk insists Swansea City won't fade away

GARRY Monk insists Swansea City are not prepared to let their season fade away.

Michael Laudrup's side were beaten 2-0 by Arsenal at the Liberty on Saturday as they suffered back-to-back defeats for only the second time this season.

Swansea were defeated at West Brom a week earlier after following their Capital One Cup triumph with victory over Newcastle.

That win at Wembley secured a first major honour and made this arguably Swansea's best season in their 101-year history.

Players could be forgiven for taking their foot off the gas in the home straight with little more than pride left to play for.

But Monk will not allow his team-mates to ease up.

"Everyone wants to make sure we don't let the season peter out and we finish as high as we can," said the Swansea skipper.

"We want to make sure we consolidate our position in the top ten. We're determined not to let it peter out. I'm not going to moan, we're doing well, but we want to make sure we bounce back."

Swansea are not used to suffering consecutive defeats and now have a fortnight to stew on their last two results as the Premier League pauses for World Cup qualifiers.

So high have their standards been that this latest blip is deemed significant.

And Monk stressed they will be working hard to return to winning ways when Tottenham visit the Liberty a week on Saturday.

"This is seen as a crisis now because we've lost two games in the Premier League," he said. "It's very rarely we lost two games in a row if you go back and look at the recent history of the club.

"It's important now we don't lose any more than two. The effort is there so it's a question of mentality."

After a goalless first half, strikes from Nacho Monreal and Gervinho handed Arsene Wenger's side victory two days ago.

"In the first 20 minutes we played well, I thought we played some good football," said Monk.

"Chances fell to Michu, while they had a couple of chances that hit the top of the bar.

"It looked like it was heading for a 0-0 because no-one was really creating anything.

"We didn't play at our best, but I don't think they did either.

"It was a scuffed goal for the first one which is hard to take and it's a different game from then."

Monreal's mis-hit effort beat Michel Vorm after Santi Cazorla's cross had been knocked back to him.

Had it been a clean strike, Monk reckons the effort would have been dealt with.

"It was a bit of a scramble. If the lad had hit the ball properly it would have got blocked," said the defender.

"It's a different game then, we're chasing it and you're always vulnerable for a second.

"I didn't think we deserved to lose the game so that is disappointing."

Swansea's scoring chances were few and far between, with the best falling to Michu.

He screwed an effort just wide before the break after earlier mis-hitting an acrobatic volley.

"I don't think they created much themselves. They had two shots in the first half and so did we," added Monk.

"It looked like it was heading for a draw because neither side was creating much.

"We're just disappointed to lose the game. I don't think we deserved that if you look at the game as a whole."

Swansea, meanwhile, look set to visit South Korea, home of Ki Sung-Yueng, as part of their pre-season preparations in July, while there may also be a stint in Holland.

Laudrup has been linked with a summer move for Mehdi Lacen, a French-born Algerian international midfield player.

The former Racing Santander man, who will be 29 in May, signed a four-year deal with La Liga side Getafe — Laudrup's former club — in 2011.

Stephen Ware