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PAUL Clement has urged Swansea City to follow Bournemouth’s example by making the most of back-to-back home fixtures after the international break.
The Swans suffered back-to-back Premier League defeats for the first time since Clement’s appointment as an Alfie Mawson own goal and Benik Afobe strike condemned them a 2-0 loss against the Cherries.
Coming on the back of a 2-1 reverse at Hull, Swansea have been dragged back towards the bottom three and are one place and three points clear of 18th-placed Tigers.
After consecutive disappointing performances - which fell some way below the standards shown since Clement’s January arrival - this fortnight break will give Swansea some valuable time to make sure they get their survival fight back on track.
Home games against Middlesbrough and Tottenham await, with the clash against the Teesiders having the feel of being the latest “must-win” fixture at the Liberty.
Bournemouth have shown what a difference back-to-back home games can make. Their wins over West Ham and Swansea have moved them nine points clear of the bottom three and within sight of safety.
Clement wants his men to replicate that, and will remind them of the considerable strides they have made over the last two-and-a-half months.
“It is difficult to take the positives out of a result like this, clearly we needed more from it,” said the former Bayern Munich assistant.
“I think we have to reflect on the bigger picture. At the start of January we were rock bottom and were only on 12 points. With nine games to go we are 17th, and that is the target for us. If we finish higher than that, it will be a bonus. We now have two home games. Bournemouth have shown what can happen when you string two results together, it has given them that breathing space, now it’s our turn.
“We have four away games and five at home, we have to respond quickly and the game against Middlesbrough is a very, very big game.
“A few games ago we had back-toback wins against Liverpool and Southampton, it changes things very quickly. I am not concerned by the performance, more some of the errors, but things have got to get better.”
Swansea have also been struck by injury problems at the worst possible time, and were without their firstchoice full-backs at the Vitality Stadium as Kyle Naughton and Martin Olsson were ruled out.
Leroy Fer had to fill in with Naughton absent, and the Dutchman believes the international break may come as a blessing to Swansea if it allows them to get their injured players back for the crucial Boro game.
“The international break comes at a good time, we can get our injured players back, have a strong team and then look to perform when we come back,” he said.