Carlos Corberán believes an injury-hit Albion gave their best at Swansea City, but accepted their best just wasn’t enough on the first day of 2024.
The Baggies, who arrived in South Wales on the back of consecutive home wins over Norwich and Leeds, were beaten by a solitary strike in the second period by Liam Cullen.
Brandon Thomas-Asante, Tom Fellows and Darnell Furlong all went close in the opening half, but the Baggies were unable to find the net at the Swansea.com Stadium and left with nothing to show for their efforts.
The boss admitted missing several key players in the attacking area of the pitch affected his “possibilities” and stated how disappointed he was to not reward the travelling fans with a positive result.
Carlos said: “Today was not the way we wanted to start the year. We didn’t get the result we wanted to achieve.
“We tried to compete for the three points and the win.
“I think for me, in the first 45 minutes we were better. We started to dominate and Swansea started defending closer to the box.
“We managed to create a couple of big opportunities. Unfortunately we couldn’t score the goal which would have really helped us. It would’ve helped us manage the game better too.
“I knew at the start of the second period they would start to press more and be a lot more aggressive.
“Set-pieces they were dangerous from and from one action, a second phase from a set-piece, the ball accidentally bounced off Alex Mowatt and arrived to the striker and he scored which made things more complicated.
“However, I saw the effort of the players from the first moment until the end when we had the chance in the last minute. I cannot ask for more from them.
“We knew that we would be facing the most demanding period of the competition because we have played four games in ten days. It’s true, we have suffered injuries which have decreased the strength of the team.
“We arrived to today’s game with limits on our possibilities. We had a lot more defensive options on the bench.
“We couldn’t come here today with the strongest squad that we have. This squad will always compete though and give their best. It’s not an excuse, I saw my team competing.
“When you give your best and your best is not enough, you can accept it more than if you don’t give your all. I always want to see my players giving their best for the shirt, the club, the fans and for their team-mates.
“It’s difficult to not get a good result for the fans. They have come down here, which is quite a distance, in bad conditions, on the first of January and we couldn’t give them what they deserved. That’s painful for us.”
