Richards: U23s can be very proud

Gary Richards insists Swansea City Under-23s can be very proud following their emphatic 4-1 victory over Tottenham Hotspur in Premier League 2.

The young Swans recorded their first league win of the season after coming from behind to run out commanding victors at Hotspur Way.

Richards was delighted with the players’ response to trailing 1-0 as Liam Cullen and Botti Biabi both scored twice to wrap up the victory.

“We’re not only delighted with the result but also the performance,” the under-23s coach said.

“For any team at any level to go to Tottenham and win the way we did is something that the boys can be very proud of.

“We thought we created the better opportunities in the first half and were very unlucky to find ourselves a goal down. But we were very pleased with the reaction of the players. They showed bags of character, good attitude and lots of quality.

“The message at half-time was that we needed to be more clinical in the final third and, to be fair, that is exactly what they were. We got the early goal and that set the tempo for the rest of the half.

“The win provides a huge confidence boost for us and is something we can build on, but we have to be careful not to get carried away."

Richards was also pleased to see Cullen and Biabi bag their first goals of the season and is hopeful the pair will kick on from here.

“They’ve both been a little frustrated that they haven’t been able to get off the mark,” he added. “The fact that they’ve both got two today is really pleasing.

“I’m sure it will be a good boost for their confidence.”