Richards delighted as Swans extend unbeaten run

2nd February

Gary Richards hailed Swansea City Under-23s' character as the development side extended their unbeaten run in Premier League 2 to seven games with a 1-0 win over Manchester City.

Substitute Kenji Gorre scored his 10th of the season to secure a smash-and-grab victory for the young Swans in stoppage-time at City’s Academy Stadium.

The under-23s' sixth win in seven outings lifts them to fourth in the Division One table.

“We produced a real battling performance where we had to dig in for periods,” Richards said.

“We have to be happy with three points tonight. Both sides had chances in what was a 50-50 game. We definitely rode our luck for parts of the game but we made our opportunity count to get the win.

“Manchester City are a good team and showed that tonight. But we stayed in the game, defended well and held out until we took the chance we created.

“It is great to extend our unbeaten run to seven games in the league. We are on a very good run and we need to continue the hard work to make sure that continues.”

Rabbi Matondo and Javairo Dilrosun squandered chances in front of goal for the home side before Gorre came off the bench to score his third goal in three games for the young Swans.

And Richards admits the winger is having a real impact for the development squad.

“I am pleased for Kenji,” he added.

“He has scored a couple of really important goals for us in recent games. Tonight is no different and he has had a real positive impact.

“The win was a real team effort in what has been a tough month of games. We have played six games since the turn of the year but have done well to stay competitive and have produced some really good performances.

“We have a bit of a gap now before we continue our campaign in the Premier League Cup. We will assess things and see where we can improve.”