Midfielder Ethan Galbraith says Swansea City need to develop a killer instinct to finish teams off if they are to challenge for promotion this season.
The Swans are 16th in the Championship after Saturday’s 1-1 draw at Charlton Athletic, but missed chances to claim a win at The Valley that would have left them just two points outside the top six.
Alan Sheehan’s side have only won two of their last nine Championship matches, and could be sitting comfortably inside the play-off zone had they managed to turn some of their five draws into victories.
“We are definitely better than our results suggest, but we need to work at killing games off,” said Galbraith, who has been hugely impressive in midfield since joining Swansea from Leyton Orient for about £1.5m in July.
“We’ve started games well and finished them well, but it’s that final bit in the final third (of the pitch) that we need to work on and get better at.
“We’ve spoken about it in the changing room. We’ve probably drawn games we thought we should’ve won.
“Now it’s all about regrouping, and having that mentality to finish games off.”
Fans have been frustrated by Swansea dropping points from winning positions – as they have in home draws with Millwall and Hull – while there was also criticism that they could not force a winner against a struggling Southampton side in the goalless draw at St Mary’s Stadium on 18 October.
Clearly, it is going to be Swansea’s ability to turn draws into wins – or losses into draws – that determines whether they can challenge for the play-offs.
And Galbraith hopes the Swans can close the gap on the top six before the final international break of the year, with games at Preston on Wednesday followed by Ipswich at home three days later.
“Every footballer wants to push to be the best they can and get as far up the table as they can,” said Galbraith.
“I don’t want to say anything too early, but you look for play-offs as a minimum. I had that experience last year at Leyton Orient, getting to the play-off final, and getting up the table would be brilliant.
“We’ve competed well in every game. It’s just that final bit now.”
