Preview | Sheffield Wednesday Under-18s vs Swansea City Under-18s

9th April
Swansea City Under-18s Darren Davies 2

Swansea City Under-18s return to Professional Development League action as they travel to face Sheffield Wednesday Under-18 on Saturday (11am).

The Swans come into the game after two weeks without a competitive fixture due to the international break, with a difficult run of two defeats before that respite.

They suffered a 4-0 defeat to Colchester United in their previous outing, with a 2-1 defeat to QPR in the game before.

Despite this setback, the Swans have had a strong run in the league in recent months, having suffered just one defeat in 2022 before the loss to QPR.

Sheffield Wednesday currently sit third in the Professional Development League north group, just four points off the top of the league.

Despite their strong position, Wednesday will be looking for their first win in three games, having drawn two and lost one of their last three outings, with two 0-0 draws in that time.

Swansea City Under-18s coach Darren Davies: “We are very much looking forward to it, we’ve had a little break with the international break, we’ve put in some good work but we’re looking forward to getting back into competitive action.

“We’ve come up with a young side, predominantly an under-17 side as such, so we’re looking forward to testing ourselves against a team that are doing well and are highly positioned in the league.

“We’ve done everything right in the build-up, it’s great that the under-18s and under-16s can have this experience together, we’ve travelled up the day before in a long trip, everybody’s here together in terms of what we’re trying to achieve so we’re looking forward to the games now.

“Predominantly what we will be doing over the course of the next month will be looking to play a younger side now and looking to prepare for next season.

“We look forward to it, it’s obviously a big challenge, but it’s one we embrace and we will be better for it come next season.

“The goal is to continue to develop individually and as a squad, for the remainder of the season we won’t be taking our foot off the gas in terms of training, application, game preparation. It’s a really important five or six weeks that we can get some good work into the boys and then they can go away and have a nice break and rest knowing they finished the season strongly.”

Previous meeting

The two sides last met in last season’s Professional Development League as Sheffield Wednesday ran out to a 4-2 victory.

The damage was done in the first half as the Swans conceded three times in the opening 39 minutes.

The young Swans fell behind to Will Trueman's long-range strike, while they were caught out by a pair of set-pieces with Alex Bonnington and Caelen Kilheeney profiting.

And although Ben Lloyd reduced the arrears before the break, Jay Glover's second-half penalty was enough to effectively secure a fourth consecutive victory for the visitors.

An own-goal gave the hosts hope in the final 20 minutes, but it proved no more than a consolation for them.