Anthony Wright | Youth Cup progress a good learning curve

Anthony Wright believes Swansea City Under-18s will benefit from the lessons learned in their FA Youth Cup victory over Queens Park Rangers on Tuesday.

The young Swans advanced to the fourth round of the competition for the first time in three years after a hard-earned 2-1 victory at Landore.

Wright’s side made a positive start; taking an 18th-minute lead through Michael Murphy and were unfortunate not to increase their advantage after striking the woodwork on several occasions, while also been denied by QPR goalkeeper Matteo Salamon.

The hosts were pegged back before the break by Micah Anthony’s long-range effort and the competitive nature of the fixture was evident in the second half as both teams went in search of the decisive third goal.

But the Swans maintained their concentration and performance levels and reaped their rewards when Morgan Clarke struck the winner 10 minutes from time.

Although delighted with the result, Wright observed plenty of opportunities for his players to learn and develop as they march into round four.

“We’ve got the result, which was the main objective for the players,” he said.

“Overall, it was a really good learning curve for them. It was a game carrying importance and we’re really pleased to be through to the next round.

“We had lots of different problems to overcome throughout the game – one being that we couldn’t play our way and have that control – but we kept plugging away.

“Their goal came after a mistake by us which we were punished for but, throughout the game, I don’t think our goalkeeper had too much to do in terms of making saves.

“I think the game became quite frantic at times – there was something on it and both sides really wanted to win.

“But once the game opened up in the last 20 minutes, we were able to show our quality. We can now look forward to the next round, so a good day overall.”