Cameron Toshack | We must be patient with U23s

Cameron Toshack has underlined the need for patience with a youthful Swansea City Under-23s' squad ahead of tonight’s showdown with Reading at the Madejski Stadium.

You can watch the game LIVE on swanseacity.com from 7pm this evening.

The young Swans travel to Berkshire aiming to record their second victory of the season, having collected four points from as many games so far in Premier League 2 Division 2.

Toshack and Gary Richards have a particularly young squad at their disposal this season - predominantly consisting of teenagers such as 17-year-old defender Tivonge Rushesha, while 16-year-old forward Josh Thomas has also broken into the development side.

As a result, Toshack insists that patience is required with the team needing time to gel and develop.

Nevertheless, he admits he has been pleased by their progress so far and, with a bit of fine-tuning, is confident their levels of consistency will improve in the coming weeks.

“The players really look forward to games being played at first-team stadiums,” the coach said.

“They are superb opportunities for our youngsters to learn a lot from and they will only grow as a result.

“We have a young group of players – one of the youngest that Gary and I have worked with. Therefore, we need to be very patient with them and give them time to gel.

“They’re learning and showing that they’ve taken on board quite a bit of information. For large parts of the games that we’ve played this season, you can see that they’re putting their learning into practice.

“It’s now about fine-tuning things, trying to raise that level of consistency and making sure we push them forward.

“Hopefully, we can play with more of a clinical edge. With time, that will happen with our group.”