Swansea City manager Michael Duff admits his side’s poor form is cause for concern but insists they continue to show real signs of progress in recent weeks.

Defeat to promotion-chasing Leeds United left Swansea with just one win in their last seven league games, leaving them 18th in the table ahead of Saturday’s clash with Huddersfield Town. Competition with terriers now looks potentially important.

The run could certainly make Duff’s early-season critics start coughing again, but the Swans boss insists his side have started to make progress in recent weeks.

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“There were factors involved,” Duff said when asked if he would think about this final race. “We had a lot of injuries. We played four of the top six in the last event.

“That’s not an excuse, it’s just reality. So it is. We just have to show signs of improvement and that’s all we have. It seems like the team has a better balance. It seems like the team has a better relationship.

“At the end of the day you have to win games, no one is so naive as to not think about that. But the relationship is starting to take shape and I think you can see that in the performance.”

The Swans started well at Elland Road, taking the lead through Jamie Paterson before Joel Pireau equalized inside the first four minutes. However, a good first-half effort was thwarted just before half-time when Georginio Rutter came on and scored after a simple long pass through the middle.

Daniel James then secured the points with a third goal and although Duff was disappointed with the defeat, he was pleased with the way his team fought back against a team who had yet to lose a home game this season.

“There’s no point coming here playing 4-5-1 or 5-4-1 and trying to survive for 90 minutes,” he said. “We won’t do that. I don’t think we have the staff to do that. We have some good football players in the building.

“I thought we were aggressive in pressing. We pressed the ball into good areas, which is what we always said we wanted to achieve. It took longer than we would have liked, but it’s starting to look a little like what we wanted.” Make it look aggressive in the press while playing as a team.

“We are where we are and we are in the race. But it’s a difficult situation because you’re going to be all over the league. So the challenge now for the players is whether they can show that kind of courage and quality every week. outside.

“The results were not the same, but the performances are more similar to what we want.”