Matos urges Swans 'to stay together as a club'

Vitor Matos left Portuguese second-tier club Maritimo to take over at Swansea following the sacking of Alan Sheehan

Vitor Matos says unity will be key for Swansea City as they look to turn around their alarming slump in form.

Swansea fell to 21st in the Championship after losing 3-2 against West Bromwich Albion on Saturday despite storming into a 2-0 lead inside the first 12 minutes at The Hawthorns.

Albion scored three second-half goals as Swansea slumped to a fifth successive second-tier defeat, their worst league run since the club's final days in the Premier League seven years ago.

Matos, who has endured a miserable first week in charge having been named successor to Alan Sheehan, insists there is still time for Swansea to pull clear of a relegation scrap.

But with potentially pivotal home games against Oxford United and Portsmouth to come next, Swansea's head coach says the "most important thing is that we stick together".

"I think we are in the beginning of a new process," he added.

"I think when you look to the table, you need to see that you are in relegation fight. [But] heading now to December, there are still a lot of games.

"What I see now is that we need togetherness. We need to stay together as a club because the moment is not easy, the moment is not what we all want."

Swansea collapsed at West Brom despite going ahead thanks to Zan Vipotnik's classy finish after only 12 seconds and then doubling the advantage through Ethan Galbraith.

Matos suggested after defeat in his first game in charge, against Derby County last Tuesday, that Swansea needed to view the West Brom trip as a "final".

And the former Liverpool coach said after the dispiriting Baggies reverse that the same approach is required as Swansea prepare to host 20th-placed Oxford next weekend.

"The most important thing, like I said [previously], is that the next game is like a final," Matos added.

"Don't wait for the game to come to us, go dominate, go pressing, go attacking. That's we need for the future."