The Scotland international and the SPL's record scorer was an 87th-minute substitute, as Mowbray opted to partner Leroy Lita with Scott McDonald as Boro searched for a third successive victory.
However, Boro did not register a shot on target and were beaten by an 85th-minute Scott Sinclair goal at the Liberty Stadium.
The Middlesbrough manager explained that Lita's style of play was more suited to the counter-attacking football he expected Boro to play on the day.
We needed energy and lots of it, due to the way Swansea play, and I knew we'd get pushed back and that we'd be defending quite deep at times.
Leroy brings speed on the shoulder of their defence.
Kris is a different type of player and he will be a big player for us over the season when we dominate games, and the balls are coming into the box he'll be there to finish them off.
But at Swansea, in my mind, this was a game for breaking away and playing counter-attacking football, and Leroy's attributes as a footballer fitted with the system better.
Mowbray believes Middlesbrough's defeat to Swansea was a masterclass in how his Boro side could look in the future.
Swansea employed an attractive 4-3-3 formation, playing neat, tidy football something Mowbray would love to see his Middlesbrough charges play in the coming games.
He said: Boro fans will hopefully see a team similar to Swansea, the way they move the ball around the pitch, and take care of the ball.
Boro's plans were hit early on at the Liberty Stadium when Kevin Thomson took a knock on the same spot he suffered a broken leg in the second game of the season, but Mowbray is confident his midfield playmaker will become more resilient.
We were hugely disappointed about Kevin, Mowbray admitted. It's not anything serious, but if he takes a big whack on it, it's very difficult to shake that off. Over the next weeks and months it will become less of a problem for him. The more game time he gets, the more confidence he gets and he'll get through these knocks.
It wasn't a game where we could have waited for ten minutes to see if he could shake it off, the guy was hobbling about and we needed to make that change.
Kevin's disappointed but he'll be fighting for his place in the team next week.
Source: Northern Echo
Source: Northern Echo