Sunday 18 December 2016 08:20, UK
Under-pressure Swansea City manager Bob Bradley insists he has no intention of considering his position despite a 3-0 defeat at Middlesbrough which will leave his side second bottom of the Premier League at Christmas.
Two first-half goals from Alvaro Negredo and a 58th-minute effort from Marten de Roon boosted Boro's own survival chances and left Swansea reeling from a second straight defeat after Wednesday's 3-1 loss at the Hawthorns.
Some among Swansea's small travelling contingent made their anger plain towards the end of the game, but American Bradley is adamant two upcoming home games give him the chance to turn his side's season around.
"I go in motivated every day and I've said many times I like the group of players, I love the club and now it's a challenge," he said. "When I came here I knew what I was getting into and I'm not backing down from it now.
"That's the challenge - when the team has put itself in a tough spot everybody has got to stick together during the toughest times and fight the fight.
"I put pressure on myself to see if we can make the team stronger and fight for points every week, and I will continue to do that."
However for Bradley, who replaced previous boss Francesco Guidolin at the start of October, it was a case of déjà vu at the Riverside as his players again made a bright start to the match, before crumbling after Negredo opened the scoring 18 minutes into the game.
"The same story, we have had a number of games where we have started in a positive way and do not always create enough, but you feel like it is coming," he said.
"But then when we concede, we lose a little something and again, the second goal comes in a strange way, mix-up over whose thrown in and before we know it, it is a penalty.
"So you cannot go away in the Premier League and constantly dig a hole for yourselves.
"Early in the match, when we have started well, their first hint on goal they take the lead 1-0 and that sets the tone for the match, and that is something that has happened far too often to us."
There was some controversy surrounding the validity of the penalty that doubled the home team's lead, with Bradley claiming it should have been a throw-in to his side seconds before Jordi Amat felled Adam Forshaw in the box.
"Jay Fulton follows the ball out and I think our players believe it is our throw, very quickly it gets thrown in and again we deal with the situation poorly," he said.
"But there was certainly a mix-up and we end up paying the price."
All of which makes Swansea's next two league games at home to West Ham United and Bournemouth vital in their bid to beat the drop, according to Bradley.
"It comes from work every day and results, so the next two matches at home at the Liberty take on extra importance," he said.
