Anthony Wright pleased to round cup campaign off on a positive note

13th January
Academy
Anthony Wright

Swansea City Under-21s' assistant coach Anthony Wright was pleased to see his side round off their Premier League Cup campaign on a positive note after coming from two goals down to draw 3-3 at Burnley.

Goals from a trialist, Tarrelle Whittaker and Iwan Morgan secured a share of the spoils against the Clarets at the County Ground.

Michael Mellon netted a hat-trick for the hosts, including the first two goals of the game as the Clarets surged into an early lead, but a fine Swansea fightback ensured Burnley saw their hopes of progressing to the last 16 come to an end.

The Swans had already known they could not reach the knockout stages, but they showed great character to end their Group G assignments with a positive result.

“First and foremost, we obviously knew that going into this game we were already out of the cup," said Wright.   

“But, that didn’t mean that we wouldn’t show up today, so we went into it like we would with any other fixture – to put a good performance in.  

“In the first half, I thought we had some pretty good spells and we held ourselves well in and out of possession. 

“Ultimately, we did find ourselves two goals down for a short period of time, but we quickly responded before the break. 

“At half-time, we just said to keep going, because we knew Burnley were going to give it their all to try and qualify. 

“There are learning moments to be had, we are disappointed to concede the way we did and there are times in possession where we could improve."  

For striker Morgan - who has been in terrific form for the under-18s - his goal was his first for the upper-age group, and Wright felt the 16-year-old had turned in an impressive showing.

“Iwan [Morgan] has been up training with us for four to five weeks now, and he’s been a great addition to the side," Wright added.

“He’s shown he can perform at a higher level with different intensities and training. That is what we strive for – giving the younger players a chance - and Iwan looks comfortable doing just that.  

“We could have gone on to win the game, to end the campaign on a positive note. Burnley missed two close chances at the end which could have clinched it for them. 

“Overall, we’re happy with how the lads did as a team despite not qualifying. So now we’ll turn our attention to Millwall on Tuesday back in the league."