Anthony Wright | We were much better in the second half
Head coach Anthony Wright praised Swansea City Under-21s’ second-half performance after they came from behind to beat Charlton Athletic 3-2 in the Professional Development League.
Shia-Lee Burnham put the visitors ahead in the first half before a brace from Thomas Woodward turned the game around and gave the Swans a deserved lead.
Charlton levelled from the penalty spot with 15 minutes remaining, but Yori Griffith had the final say, reacting quickest inside the box to fire home a low finish and seal all three points in injury time.
“I’m really pleased with the outcome of the game. Over the 90 minutes, I think it was what we deserved,” said Wright.
“In the first half, we had a lot of control over the ball, but we were too slow with it. More importantly, out of possession, we were maybe a yard or two off.
“The distances between our units, from front to back, were just a little bit too big. There were times when we couldn’t put enough pressure on them. From our perspective, it was a poor first goal to concede, but we needed to up the gears, and we did that.
“We spoke about it at half-time, and I think we more or less dominated the game in the second half.
“We created numerous opportunities to score. We hit the post five times and, to be honest, at times I wasn’t sure that goal was going to come because it felt like it could be one of those games for us.
"We had a lot of dominance and plenty of entries into the final third, but the players stuck at it and dug in.
"Despite coming away with three goals, we could have scored a lot more, and that is a really pleasing thing for us.”
The young Swans return to action on Friday evening when they travel to face Birmingham City in the Premier League Cup.
Wright wants his side to carry their momentum into the contest as they look to maintain their unbeaten start in the competition.
“It’s always good for us to test ourselves against a Category One team, so we’re looking forward to it and seeing how we fare,” he added.
“We had a really positive result against Birmingham at home, so I’ve got no doubt it’s going to be another tough game.
“But, off the back of today, it’s always a good feeling to score a last-minute winner. I’m sure those players will carry that confidence into Friday and hopefully get a positive result.”