“Then, just before halftime, they scored, which was a huge letdown because we have been practicing getting to the ball, preventing crosses, and blocking shots for the past ten days. They score because we let the cross enter the box too easily, don’t handle it well enough, and make a bad clearance. It’s clearly harder because of that.

“We are aware that Swansea is a strong team, and they got off to a strong start in the second half, which placed us down. However, I believe we had three players close to the ball for their second goal, and we failed to stop the cross and then failed to adequately defend the box.

“After that, I don’t believe Swansea had any genuine chances. From our perspective, it was somewhat disappointing because the ambitions we gave up were, to put it mildly, foolish.

We regain some of our momentum after that. After regaining a goal, we try to equalise but are unsuccessful. I believe the game had some good aspects, and it was definitely better than the previous two.

This season, Argyle has a tendency to score goals in extra time at the end of home games, converting draws into victories or losses into draws. However, even though Bundu’s goal in the 79th minute gave them hope of doing so again, they were unable to do so this time.

“We were putting the ball in the box and trying to cause Swansea problems, but we just couldn’t get that clear chance at goal,” Rooney stated. We can’t keep depending on late goals, even though the players were attempting to equalise and pressing.”

Rooney believed that Argyle’s handling of Swansea captain and key midfielder Matt Grimes was one of the game’s positive aspects.

“I thought we coped really well with Grimes,” Rooney added. He is Swansea’s most important player, and we completely destroyed his on-ball opportunities. For us, blocking the crosses was crucial, but we failed to do so twice and were punished as a result.

The manager of the Pilgrims also praised Callum Wright’s diligent performance in what ended up being a defeat. “I thought Callum did a really good job helping out from a defensive point of view, and from an attacking point of view he got into some really good areas,” he stated.

Argyle has only triumphed once in their last ten Championship games, and that victory came against Portsmouth 1-0 at home, the only other time they have not let up the opening goal.

“It’s like Swansea tonight; they have something to cling to after scoring the first goal,” Rooney remarked. Swansea had a tough away game on Saturday, but I thought we could really push them in the final 15 to 20 minutes if we didn’t give up.

“They get a little more vitality when you give up the first objective because it offers them something to cling to. We probably had a few solid half-time chances in the first half but were unable to score. At one point, we were on the defensive.

Rooney went on to say: “There is no doubting that we are going through a tough time. Sometimes during these times, little things grow into major issues and seem to work against you, and today is no exception.

“We must persevere through it. The important thing for us is that we are progressively getting players back from injuries. Until the new year, we will most likely still be without our captain and our front three.