Sam Byram gives excuses for West Ham defeat to Swansea

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West Ham suffered a dismal 4-1 loss to Swansea on Saturday afternoon.

West Ham United defender Sam Byram has given excuses for the Hammers’ dismal 4-1 defeat to Swansea City when speaking to the club’s official website.

The Hammers were powerless in avoiding defeat to Carlos Carvalhal’s rejuvenated Swansea side, who leapfrogged the Hammers into 13th place and level on 30 points.

Byram, 24, came on to the field in the 27th minute, replacing Winston Reid who suffered an injury. The loss of the New Zealander compounded the Hammers’ lack of options at centre-back.

Angelo Ogbonna and James Collins were ruled out from the trip to Swansea prior to the match and former Leeds United right-back Byram believes without the defensive trio, the Hammers stood no chance.

“Saturday was a chance to get some and we didn’t do that. If you look at all the goals, we’ll hold our hands up and say how disappointed we are with them. We need to go back to defending how we did when the manager came in,” Byram said.

“We were without Angelo and Ginge, and Winston got injured during the game and they are very experienced players and have played the majority of games for us, so to lose them was frustrating.”

A January transfer target for the Hammers, Ki Sung-yeung opened the scoring for Swansea before Mike van der Hoorn doubled the lead just five minutes after Byram had entered the field of play.

Andy King and Jordan Ayew scored in the second half, with Michail Antonio scoring a late consolation with 10 minutes to play. The Hammers are now just three points above the relegation zone.

Byram made just his fifth Premier League appearance of the season against Swansea, clocking up just 246 minutes of top-flight action but could be in line to add to that as the Hammers play host to Burnley on Saturday.

That could even worsen on Monday night, with 18th-placed Crystal Palace playing their game in hand. However, they face a difficult test at Selhurst Park, as they welcome Manchester United.