Byron Anthony | We need more consistency

Byron Anthony is looking for more consistent performances from his players following Swansea City Under-18s 3-1 defeat to Colchester United in the Professional Development League.

The Swans found themselves 1-0 down after just six minutes before Cameron Congreve found an equaliser from an indirect free-kick. The U’s were ahead once more before the break from a long throw in, whilst a goal in the 85th minute sealed all three points for the visitors.

Anthony felt that his side delivered a strong first half performance, but thought they struggled to adapt in the second half.

“It’s disappointing from the second half, I think in the first half we started really brightly, I think we moved the ball really well, we played out and played some really good football and tried to play through them,” said Anthony.

“The early goal for them probably comes against the run of play, but we’ve got to do better in the box to mark in the box.

“That’s something that we’re not quite good at yet in terms of on the transition and marking in the box and we get punished for that.

“We’ve worked on it previously, but it’s just anticipation and smelling danger and seeing where the next chance will come from.

“We get back in the game from a good bit of play and Cameron’s free-kick in the box and again we controlled large parts of the first half and found ways to break through them and play through them.

“We just lacked a bit of composure in the final third to get that killer pass or that killer touch to create an opportunity to shoot and they score just before half-time which again comes down to how we mark in the box.

“Because Colchester came out in the second half and they pressed us more aggressively we tried to play over them when we couldn’t play beyond them, but we tried to do that too much and it became a scrappy affair.

“The players went away from what they were doing in the first half because they were chasing the game, but it’s part of their learning to see when to play beyond teams and when to switch it up.

“Second half was scrappy, we need to start getting some consistency in our performances, I’m not too concerned about results, for me it’s more about performances and consistency of showing improvement and I’m seeing players develop.

“I’ve said to the players that they’ve got to try and work in 15 minute windows, Under-18s football is all about consistency so if we can get consistent at some point, it’s all about individual development.

“These players are all on their own individual journey and it’s our job to make sure we are there for them to develop them, giving them opportunities in Under-23s and first team because there is a clear pathway.”