Vitor Matos insisted he was proud of his Swansea City players despite a 2-0 loss at Derby County.
Swansea lost for only the second time in six league games thanks to second-half strikes from Rhian Brewster and Patrick Agyemang.
Both goals came from Callum Elder corners, leaving Matos to rue his team's set-piece defending after they had dominated the first period.
But despite frustration over the nature of Swansea’s defeat, Matos said: “I think at the moment the way my team and my players are performing, I am really proud of them.
"They are buying into ideas, they are putting in a lot of effort to improve. We are all improving.
"Today was about set-pieces. We suffered from that and that's what we need to keep focused on for the next games."
Swansea's 10th away league defeat of the season meant they missed the chance to cut the gap to the Championship play-off spots.
They are now six points off sixth place – which is held by Derby after their success – and 10 clear of the relegation zone in 16th.
Swansea return home for games against Bristol City next Saturday and Preston North End the following Tuesday.
The Swans' form on their own patch has been excellent during Matos' reign, but he added: "We don't rely on the past. What we rely on is the work we do between games and that's for the next week.
"If we look at some away performances, the performance is there but the points are not.
"At home we are getting the points, but we rely on training, not the past."
