Boss looks for sharpness

Graham Potter hopes to see Swansea City sharpen up in the final third during their pre-season trip to Germany and Austria.

The Swans fly out for an eight-day stint on the Continent on Friday ahead of 60-minute games against FC Magdeburg – who play in the German second tier – and Serie A side Genoa on Saturday.

Potter’s men then face 90-minute games against La Liga side Eibar (Tuesday) and German top-flight club SC Freiburg a week on Friday.

Their next fixture after the Freiburg friendly will be the Championship opener at Sheffield United.

And Potter admits his team have room for improvement in attack even though they made it two friendly wins from two thanks to Wednesday’s behind-closed-doors victory over Newport County.

“It’s pre-season so results are not important, but at the same time it’s nice for the boys to get a feel for restricting their opponents to no chances while creating chances ourselves, which we did against Newport,” Potter said.

“In the final third that speed of play you need isn’t there yet, but you would expect that at this stage.

“I am hoping that over the next couple of weeks we will get a bit better in that area, but certainly we improved our foundation in the Newport game.”

There were positive signs for the Swans against Newport, with new recruit Joel Asoro looking bright after coming off the bench in the second half.

Fellow substitute Jefferson Montero was another to impress as he made his first appearance since returning to Wales after a season away on loan.

“Jeff was bright when he came on,” Potter acknowledged.

“I thought all the subs were bright – Joel, Yan (Dhanda), Jay (Fulton) did well when they came on, and it was the same with Kyle (Naughton) and Jordan (Ayew).

“Joel showed that he is a strong lad and he is quick. I am glad I don’t play left-back. He did well and so did the lads who started against Newport.”