Darren Davies pleased with Under-18s performance against Exeter City

Swansea City Under-18s coach Darren Davies was pleased to see his side respond from a disappointing showing with an emphatic pre-season victory over Exeter City.

The young Swans ran out 5-1 winners, dominated the ball for large parts and were clinical in front of goal, particularly in the first half when goals from Geoff Bony and Iwan Morgan (3) put them into a 4-0 lead by half-time.

But coach Darren Davies was most pleased by the way the side were able to bounce back after a disappointing performance away at Swindon Town last time out.

“It was a good pre-season work out,” he said.

“I think we learned our lessons from the Swindon Town game and in possession we were good.

“We analysed the [Swindon] game, showed them some things and worked on it. We tried implementing everything we spoke about so it was a pleasing performance.

“There were some good patterns of play and some good goals and chances created. It was good exercise all round.

“I thought we found solutions to work the ball into the front third very well and then going forward, we scored three or four in the first half and it could maybe have been a few more, but that’s part of the progression because the hardest thing in football is putting the ball in the net.

“It’s in our DNA  to build up with possession. The manager has got the first team doing brilliantly at it and we’re trying to continue to educate those boys to help them so that when they do get to the first team, they understand the patterns the structures and what’s expected from them it’s not foreign to them.

“And that’s throughout the club, from the youth team right to the first team.”

Swans Under-18s will travel to north London on Saturday to face Arsenal in their final pre-season friendly match of 2022.

Davies believes it will be a different kind of challenge for his young side, but one that the players are relishing.

“It’s going to be a great game. It’s a benchmark because they are one of the best club’s in the country so we’re going to go there and enjoy it,” he added.

“I think the boys will take plenty of learning moments from it, but we’re not going up there to park the bus.

“We’re going to do what we always do, we’re going to try to play out from the back, press them high and see where we go.

“Saturday will be a good test for the boys, because Arsenal will probably have more of the ball. Out of possession it will test us and we’re being tested against the best and that’s what we want.”