Richards proud of U23s’ ‘professional performance’

Gary Richards hailed Swansea City Under-23s’ character after they beat league leaders Liverpool 3-1 in Premier League 2 at LFC Academy.

Jordan Garrick’s strike inside 15 minutes gave the young Swans the lead before Oli McBurnie and George Byers extended the advantage.

Liverpool later hit back from the penalty spot through Cameron Brannagan, but the Swans held on to claim an impressive win.

And Richards was delighted to see the players record their third successive league victory in division one, despite playing 25 minutes with 10 men following Aaron Lewis’ sending off.

“It was a very professional performance,” Richards said.

“We played out the perfect first half where our team really attacked and took the game to Liverpool.

“The players built on the early goal and created a lot of problems for Liverpool in the final third.

“We continued to show character after conceding and going down to 10 men. The players did everything asked of them, so we are delighted with the result.”

The Swans fifth league victory of the season lifts the under-23s to fifth in the division one table, with Chelsea next up in January.

“Three straight wins in this division is very important to our season. A victory like this shows we are competitive and can kick on in the league come January," added Richards.

“We want our players to keep growing and developing and getting better with each game we play.

“Today’s win is a huge confidence boost and we hope to build on this result come Wednesday’s game in the International Cup against Athletic Bilbao.”