Rodon: We have to give it our all

Joe Rodon has urged Swansea City’s Under-23s to fight for the win when they face Athletic Bilbao B in their Premier League International Cup decider on Wednesday (7pm).

The young Swans must defeat the Spanish side at Landore to have any hope of progressing to the quarter-finals of the competition.

The development side are second in Group D following a 6-0 win over Celtic in September and a 2-1 defeat against Manchester United last month.

Results mean the Swans, who reached the semi-final of the tournament last year before defeat against eventual champions Porto B, could go through as one of two best placed runner-up teams.

And with the possibility of reaching the knockout stage still alive, under-23s captain Rodon insists the Swans must leave everything on the pitch.

“Only a win is good enough tomorrow night,” the defender said. 

“It has been a long month of games, but we have to give it our all as a team and get another result if we want to progress in this cup.

“We did brilliantly in this tournament last season to reach the last four and we want a repeat of that.

“As young players we want to play against some of the top sides in Europe to help our development. This tournament allows us to do that, so it is an important game.

“We know Athletic Bilbao will bring great qualities and that we are going to have to try to deal with that. It will be a very different test to what we have faced so far this season, so we have to focus and be ready.”

The Swans go into tomorrow’s game following back-to-back victories against Colchester United and Liverpool.

Athletic, who are bottom of the group with two defeats and cannot progress, are unbeaten in their last five outings.

“Friday’s victory over Liverpool was probably our best of the season,” Rodon added.

“We could not have asked any more from ourselves. But we want to keep that winning run going and know we have one more job to do before the Christmas break.

“We must stay focused as a team, play our way and concentrate on every minute of the game. If we give it everything, we can progress and extend our run.”

Swansea City's Under-23s face Athletic Bilbao at Landore tomorrow night, Wednesday, December 20 (7pm).

Entry is FREE with food and merchandise available to buy, but there is no parking at the facility.