Swansea City manager Garry Monk felt a harsh penalty decision proved fatal to his team against Liverpool on Sunday but maintained his players are continuing to work hard during a difficult run of form.
Monk's men were beaten 1-0 at Anfield, a James Milner penalty doing the damage after Neil Taylor was perhaps harshly adjudged to have handled Jordon Ibe's cross.
The result leaves Swansea with just one win in 10 Premier League matches amid uncertainty over Monk's future at the Liberty Stadium.
But the manager could not fault the effort of his team, claiming his players are eager to turn results around.
"I am gutted for my players as they were excellent. It was a very soft penalty and it is a shame for the players as they were excellent today," he told BBC Sport.
"I have no complaints over the performance. I did think penalties had to be deliberate. Neil's back is turned. It was very soft.
"We didn't look like a team in trouble. We are not going to make excuses, I know we need results but if we play like that it is a given.
"It was an excellent performance which deserved much more than it got.
"I take full responsibility for this period. You can see players are working hard to put it right."
