Cameron Toshack praises Kalulu on his return

Swansea City Under-23s coach Cameron Toshack has praised the impact of the returning Aldo Kalulu in the development side’s draw with Fulham on Friday.

Kalulu made his first appearance in a Swansea shirt for three months at Motspur Park – playing the first 45 minutes of the 1-1 draw in Premier League 2 Division Two.

The attacking midfielder, who arrived on loan from Basel in the summer, was hugely influential for the young Swans with some dangerous runs into the heart of the Fulham defence, while he also provided the assist for Will Rickard’s opener.

Toshack was delighted by the Frenchman’s impact and believes the rest of the squad will have benefited from lining up alongside him.

“It was great to see Aldo coming back from injury and making an impact in games,” the under-23s coach said.

“He caused Fulham all sorts of problems. It was great to see him making positive runs at the defence and linking the play well.

“It’s always great for the youngsters – especially with so many under-18s players in our group – to experience playing with his kind of quality, as it really helps their learning.

“He certainly gave 100 per cent and I’m sure he will be very pleased with his 45 minutes – as will the first-team staff.”

Toshack feels the Swans could have capitalised on their numerical advantage in the second half of the contest, after Martell Taylor-Crossdale was sent off within five minutes of equalising in the early stages.

Nevertheless, the under-23s coach insists it was an evening that provided many positives for his young side.

“In the first half, we were really good. The most pleasing thing as a Swansea team was that we passed the ball very well,” he added.

“The boys delivered the game plan and it was really good to watch. We felt quite unfortunate just to go in at half-time 1-0 up.

“The game got quite scrappy after they had a man sent off. We just couldn’t break them down and weren’t able to capitalise on having the extra man.

“When we had the extra man, it looked like we wanted to do things differently. However, that’s the time when you have to go back to basics and think about your own individual plan. 

“But overall, the boys should be very happy because there were lots of positives that came out of the evening.”