Swansea City 1-2 Derby: Matos reign starts with disappointing defeat

If Vitor Matos happened to be under any illusions over the size of the challenge he's taken at Swansea City then this will have been something of a rude awakening.

Defeat to Derby County at a chilly Swansea.com Stadium means Swansea have now extended their losing run to four games in the Championship - and some big improvements will be needed if that run is to change any time soon.

Joe Ward's strike just after half an hour put the visitors in control of what was otherwise a pretty forgettable half, before Ben Cabango's error set up Lars-Jorgen Salveson for a second just after the interval.

Ethan Galbraith curled in his second goal of the season late on to set up a tense finish, but the visitors held out to claim what was a deserved sixth win from their last seven league games.

The result condemns Matos to defeat in his first outing as Swans boss, and this performance suggested the issues in this team might well be more deeply-rooted than first thought.

Swansea stay 20th after this latest reverse, four points clear of the relegation zone, and have now won just two of their last 13 outings in all competitions.

Matos, who made four changes to the loss at Bristol City on Saturday, may possibly have been encouraged by some of the elements shown by his side. But there wasn't anywhere near enough there to mask what was another poor performance from the Swans, who once again displayed a frustrating lack of attacking invention.

Chances for both sides were admittedly at a premium during a scrappy opening, with Bobby Clark sending a deflected straight into a forest of white shirts, in what was the only real opportunity in a tightly-contested opening ten minutes.

Sondre Langas then sent a header well over the bar, while Zan Vipotnik