Smith rues late play-off miss
KOREY Smith admits he had too much thinking time after spurning a golden opportunity to net his first Swansea City goal against Barnsley.
With Barnsley pushing for an equaliser in Saturday’s Championship playoff semi-final, Smith replaced Conor Hourihane during the final quarter as the hosts looked to see out the game at the Liberty Stadium.
The midfielder was presented with a glorious chance to put Swansea 3-1 up on aggregate two minutes from time.
But after racing through on goal, the 30-year-old slipped, which allowed Barnsley goalkeeper Brad Collins to pounce on the ball.
“I think there was a sniper in the stand today, unfortunately,” said the midfielder.
“I’m gutted about that. I think I had too much time, I thought I was a striker.
“I thought I could take him on with a bit of pace down the side, but I slipped over.
“But the bigger picture is we’re going to Wembley, and that’s the most important thing.”
Smith has impressed since joining Swansea after being released by Championship rivals Bristol City last year.
And he says Swansea’s experience has played a key part in ensuring they have already gone one better than they did last term in the play-offs.
“There were a few changes, but the gaffer looked at the result last year in the semis and maybe scraping into the play-offs at the end, I think he thought where he could add a bit of experience,” added Smith.
“The likes of me and Benno (Ryan Bennett), those kind of players have come in and I think that’s helped us this year to getting in a bit earlier.
“The game wasn’t pretty, but we’ve played Barnsley four times this season and we’ve conceded one goal.”