Byron Anthony | Tide beginning to turn for U18s

Byron Anthony believes the pendulum is swinging firmly in Swansea City Under-18s’ favour following a string of consistent performances in recent weeks.

The young Swans are on a four-match unbeaten run ahead of travelling to Stoke Gifford Stadium to face Bristol City in Professional Development League South.

Anthony’s side were desperately unlucky not to take maximum points away from Hull on Saturday.

After building a 2-0 lead thanks to Iwan Morgan’s brace, they conceded twice in the last 12 minutes and were forced to settle for a share of the spoils at Bishop Burton College.

That was the under-18s’ third consecutive 2-2 draw, having come from behind to earn a point in each of their previous two outings against Nottingham Forest and Millwall.

They will look to build on that momentum against the Robins, who are currently on a run of four straight defeats.

Anthony, who oversaw a streak of five consecutive defeats upon taking over the reins at the start of March, has been delighted by his players’ progress in such a short space of time.

Now on a run of one defeat in six, he sees no reason why they cannot continue to produce the goods.  

“The tide’s starting to change; we’re four unbeaten now,” the under-18s coach said.

“We want to continue our momentum. It’s about producing consistent performances with and without the ball, dictating the play when we can, and being really aggressive on the front foot.

“Then if we can’t play on the front foot, we can dig in and be really hard to play against.

“The players know what’s required of them now. Their confidence is clearly high enough to continue to put in these performances.

“They’re learning to be a little bit more resolute and organised without the ball, and we’re out-working and out-running teams, which is a credit to them

“Our mistakes are becoming less and less, which shows that the players are taking our information on board. 

“It will allow them to go into the next game with confidence really high, and knowing they can win the game.

“The club staff are always watching – under-18s, under-23s and first-team – so it’s a chance for them to put themselves in the shop window and showing what they’re about.”