Monk confident sinking Swans will take flight once more

REUTERS – Swansea manager Garry Monk is confident his players can halt the club’s slide down the Premier League table as their woeful run of results continued on Monday with a 1-0 defeat at home to Stoke City.

The Swans made a promising start to the campaign, climbing as high as fourth in the table after the first four games, following results that included an impressive 2-1 win against Manchester United and a 2-2 draw with champions Chelsea.

However, there has been little to cheer since as they have failed to win any of their last five matches, losing three of them.

Swansea currently sit 14th in the table after nine games and are in danger on spending the season looking nervously down towards the relegation zone rather than dreaming of a European berth if their poor form continues.

Their slump has also coincided with a dry spell for striker Bafetimbi Gomis, who has failed to find the back of the net since their victory against Manchester United on Aug. 30.

“We’re in a difficult moment but we will come back in tomorrow and work hard and stick together to make sure we return to the levels that we are capable of,” Monk told the club’s website (www.swanseacity.net).

“We’ve been in difficult moments before and we’ve all experienced them, but it’s about working hard to come through this period. We went five games last season without winning and went on to have a fantastic season.

“I’m more than confident in the group that I have — it’s about bringing the players’ confidence back up and working with them closely.

“It’s not through lack of effort and commitment, you can see that. It’s our intricate passing in and around the box, which is usually so crisp, that isn’t quite there,” he added.

Monk will be hoping to get back to winning ways on Saturday when his side travel to face 19th place Aston Villa, who have lost their last five game.

(Reporting by Shravanth Vijayakumar in Bengaluru; Editing by John O’Brien)