Sheehan insists he is the right man to lead Swans

Alan Sheehan insisted he is the right man to lead Swansea City despite seeing his side’s difficult run continue as they were thumped 4-1 at home by Ipswich Town.

Swansea trailed 1-0 at the break after an abject first-half display before Goncalo Franco levelled as Sheehan’s team rallied early in the second period.

But two second-half own goals from Ipswich old boy Cameron Burgess and a header from Ivon Azon completed a miserable afternoon for Swansea, who were booed off at half-time and full-time.

Sheehan was then booed by a section of supporters as he walked over to acknowledge those in the East Stand, while there was a chant from some calling for the Irishman’s departure.

Swansea are down to 18th in the Championship having lost five of their past eight games in all competitions, while they have only won two league matches since August.

Sheehan, who signed a three-year deal in April after an impressive spell as interim boss, added: “I think that nothing good comes easy. I think where we are within football, every manager goes through spells where they don’t win consistently.

“You need to be very strong. You need to be confident and believe in what you do, and I do believe that.

“I think we get so many plaudits from opposition managers and staff about what we do, but we need to turn some of those performances and what we do into wins.”

This is the most difficult spell of Sheehan’s brief managerial career.

But while Sheehan’s Swansea have largely been competitive, they have not won enough games thanks in no small part to attacking deficiencies.

Their defensive standards slipped too against Ipswich, who romped to only a second away win of the season.

Sheehan appeared to accept the criticism aimed in his direction by fans, saying: “I understand it’s emotional and I understand it’s disappointing and I can understand the frustration.

Sheehan, who is in his first job as a head coach, says his lack of experience in the dugout may lead to fans doubting his ability to revive a Swansea side who are now seven points above the bottom three and adrift of the top six.

“I understand the fans’ frustration in terms of this is my first time in management so I’ve got no experience of turning things around and this is the first time as a manager when we haven’t been winning regularly,” he said.

“So there’s no actual proven methodology if you want to say that ‘he’s going to definitely turn around he’s done it before’.