KEY PLANNING FINAL FLOURISH
JOSH Key is hoping to make up for lost time as Swansea City look to end the season with a flourish.
Swansea are poised for a mid-table finish in the Championship as the campaign enters its closing weeks.
And Key will play a major role in that run-in after returning to full fitness.
The former Exeter City defender enjoyed an impressive start to his Swansea career, but a series of setbacks – an ankle ligament injury kept him out for a month before a hamstring problem delayed his return – stalled his progress.
But Key featured as a substitute in the games against Bristol City and Cardiff City, before starting Friday’s draw with Sheffield Wednesday.
Now he is targeting an extended run in the side as Swansea look to return to winning ways when they host Queens Park Rangers today.
“It hasn’t been an easy time, we have been adapting to a new style of play and I have been watching from the sides,” he told the club website.
“It has still been exciting, because I watch and feel it will really suit me and that I can thrive in, but you obviously want to be out there.
“So to have this chance has been great.
“I think everyone can see we are trying to build a way of playing that delivers exciting football. The gaffer challenges me all the time, in a way no other coach really has before, so I have really enjoyed it.
“This club is renowned for playing good football, and I have known it would take time for me to adapt to it.
“We want to try to have another good performance in front of our fans and then make sure we take that on over this last run of games.
“I know the season is nearly over, but it feels like it is almost starting again for me.
“So I am chomping at the bit to have more opportunities.”
Swansea go into today’s contest on the back of a 1-1 draw at Hillsborough as Jamal Lowe’s second-half effort cancelled out Bailey Cadamarteri’s close-range finish.
It wasn’t the high-octane display Luke Williams’ side delivered against Cardiff City in the South Wales derby before the international break, but the head coach was satisfied with his players’ efforts.
“It was a tough afternoon, in the first half we controlled the game quite well and we managed to quiet the crowd and I think we created some anxiety for them,” he said.
“But we were unable to make any clean actions to score, so we can improve there.
“Out of possession in the first half the intensity was there, but with the ball there was not quite enough of that.
“There is frustration to concede from a set-piece, and then in the second half the game becomes a bit more like basketball because we had to push really hard to get back into the game.
“Then we were pushing to try to win, because we don’t want to come here and not go to try to win and settle for a draw.
“But when it became more open, it brought the crowd back into the game and they caused us a lot of problems.
“We did not cope too well in that last 20 minutes of the game, so it was not a top performance from us, for sure.
“But to come here and get a point, we are probably happy even though I would have preferred all three.
“The performance was not there, but the effort was there from the players.”