Preview | Swansea City U23s v Cardiff City U23s

Swansea City are back in Professional Development League action tonight as they look to end Cardiff City’s perfect record in the South division.

Kris O’Leary’s side host the Bluebirds in Landore (7pm) looking to return to winning ways following a 3-1 loss to Coventry City.

Despite sub Tarrelle Whittaker’s goal, the Sky Blues struck twice in the last six minutes to earn the North division leaders three points.

Cardiff, meanwhile, lead the South division with seven wins from seven matches so far and conceding just three times in the process.

Pre-match views

Coach Kristian O’Leary: “This will be a great test for our lads. It will also be a good experience for them too as it will be the first derby game against Cardiff for a lot of the squad.

“Even though this game won’t have anywhere near the attention the first-team derby gets, it will still have the spice of a south Wales derby, so we are looking forward to it.

“Cardiff have started the season very well with seven straight wins, but we have a talented group of players here who are learning and improving each week.”

Centre-back Ben Erickson: “It’s a massive game for us. They are on a great run at the moment, but it’s up to us to stop that and bounce back from our defeat to Coventry.

“As players, this game means a lot to us and we all know the importance and significance of a Swansea-Cardiff derby. We also know a performance and result in a game like this can potentially lead to a consistent run of results.”

Previous meeting

An early Bradley Gibbings goal was not enough as the Swans went down 2-1 to Cardiff and ended the game with 10 men following Scott Butler’s late dismissal in January earlier this year.

The last game in Landore was a more memorable occasion for the Swans, who won the game 5-1 in September 2020. Goals from Daniel Williams, Kristoffer Peterson, Jordon Garrick, Ali Al-Hamadi and Cameron Evans seals a convincing victory for the Swans.