Charlie Patino appears to have fallen out of favour under Swansea City caretaker boss Alan Sheehan, and he’ll hope a permanent managerial appointment will change that.

When former manager Michael Duff was sacked by Swansea City and assistant head coach Alan Sheehan put in charge on an interim basis, things initially looked good for Arsenal loanee Charlie Patino.

Patino had dropped out of the Swansea team in the final weeks of Duff’s spell, with a red card and one-match suspension followed by three games out of the starting lineup.

But Sheehan immediately returned Patino to the starting lineup against Rotherham United, and the midfielder even took advantage of the start to score, albeit in strange circumstances.

Yet things quickly soured in Patino’s appearance away to Stoke City a few days later.

After being handed another start, Patino had an off-game, and he was hooked after just 45 minutes.

Since then, the Arsenal man has returned to the bench, only playing 34 minutes of the last three matches.

Patino’s best hope of a return to the starting lineup may now be the appointment of a new manager, who might view him as a more important member of the team.

It’s a shame Patino has dropped out of the Swansea team lately, because he’d made such a strong start to life on loan.

The 20-year-old has scored three goals and provided four assists in 18 appearances (13 starts), which is an excellent record for a young midfielder.

But he needs to keep playing regularly in the second half of the season, so Arsenal might be considering their options if things don’t change as we move into the January transfer window.