Gary Richards | Hawthorns provides the perfect opportunity to respond

Gary Richards believes Swansea City Under-23s’ trip to The Hawthorns to face West Bromwich Albion will provide the perfect opportunity for his players to respond to last week's defeat by Manchester United (7pm).

You can watch the action LIVE on swanseacity.com and our official Facebook page from 7pm.

The young Swans are aiming to bounce back in Premier League 2 Division 2, having seen their four-match winning run ended by last week’s 4-1 defeat against Manchester United.

Despite taking an early lead through Keiran Evans at Landore, they were unable to build on their momentum and were subsequently punished by a clinical United.

The development side will look to respond this evening when they travel to The Hawthorns for what will be their fourth stadium match already this season.

And Richards believes the occasion provides his players with the perfect opportunity to do just that.

“Whenever we have a stadium game, the players always know it’s special – no matter where it is,” the under-23s coach said. “It’s another great opportunity for the players’ development.

“You can’t help but look forward to these occasions. It always provides a different feeling to when you’re playing on training grounds. We can’t wait for the opportunity to get out there and try to put in a good performance.

“We were on a good run and had built up a bit of momentum, so the Manchester United game was a setback. We thought we let ourselves down in the second half. We felt we were unfortunate to go in losing at half-time but, in the second half, we didn’t think we were good enough with the ball.

“I think it’s a case of making sure we get back on track this evening and look for a good performance. There’s no better opportunity to do that than in a stadium game.”