Swans must treat West Brom 'like a final' - Matos

Vitor Matos has had a long coaching career, but has only been a manager since he took over at Maritimo in the summer

Vitor Matos says Swansea City must treat Saturday's trip to West Bromwich Albion "like a final" after their worrying form continued with defeat by Derby County.

Head coach Matos saw his Swansea reign begin with defeat as Ethan Galbraith's late goal offered little consolation in a 2-1 home loss to the Rams.

Swansea are four points clear of the relegation zone – though the gap could be trimmed to two if Sheffield United beat Portsmouth on Wednesday – in 20th having lost four successive league games.

The Swans have won only two of their 13 league games since victory at Sheffield Wednesday in late August put them seventh in the table.

"Of course it's not easy, but I think at the moment we need to think game by game," Matos said.

"We need to go for the next game with the idea that we need to play it as a final.

"Then we go again, then we go again and we keep going. We need to find the solutions with the short time in training."

Matos, who was officially named Swansea head coach on Monday lunchtime, had only one training session with a full squad in which to prepare for Derby.

There were some signs of promise as Matos' team dominated possession for long spells, but they lacked menace in the final third – which has been a theme of Swansea's season – and were undone by more ruthless opponents.

Joe Ward put Derby ahead before half-time and Lars-Sorgen Salvesen doubled the visitors' lead early in the second period, with Galbraith's 90th-minute effort coming too late to give Swansea realistic hope of a comeback.

"We had much more ball possession. Now from this ball possession we need to create many more chances - that's clear," Matos said.

"We can build from the first half in terms of our positional game being better or more close to what I believe [in], but maybe [we need to be] more aggressive.

"We need much more movement in behind of the wingers. We need much more movement from the second line. We need much more change of speed in the way we move the ball."