Cullen: Defeat summed up our season

Liam Cullen believes Swansea City Under-23s’ defeat by Tottenham Hotspur summed up their season as relegation from Premier League 2 Division 1 was confirmed.

The young Swans’ two-year stay in the top flight of development football came to an end on Monday night as they were beaten 2-1 by Spurs at the Liberty Stadium.

Once again, the development side enjoyed spells in the game when they were very much in the ascendancy, but were made to pay for failing to make the most of their opportunities – something that Cullen is all too familiar with.

Nevertheless, with their final league game away at Manchester City and a Premier League Cup semi-final on the horizon, the forward is now focused on finishing the season in a strong manner.

“I think that summed up our season, to be honest,” the forward said.

“We’ve been on top in a lot of games this year – both home and away – but, unfortunately, we’ve just haven’t had that clinical edge and put our chances away. We’ve got to learn sooner or later.

“Playing Manchester City away is a game we can all look forward to and finish the league campaign on a high. We’ve also got the cup semi-final coming up so, hopefully, we can get through to the final again.”

On a positive personal note, Cullen marked his return from injury by scoring the equaliser against Spurs at the Liberty.

That made it nine goals for the season for the 19-year-old, who has missed the under-23s’ past few games with a broken thumb.

And the forward was quick to acknowledge the assist provided by Keiran Evans, who threaded the eye of a needle with a neat through ball for him to calmly slot home.

“Keiran and I have always had that connection,” he explained.

“We’ve come up through the ages together so I’ve always wanted the ball off him, and he has always looked for me in good areas.

“He found me again last night and I was able to put the chance away.

“Over the past few weeks, I’ve been training on my own and running so that my legs always felt in good shape for when I was ready to return.

“It was nice to get back out there and get on the scoresheet once more.”