'Swans have made me better'

Cian Harries reckons he has justified his move to Swansea City after making his debut in the Carabao Cup clash with Crystal Palace.

Harries made his Football League bow for Coventry City more than two years ago and had racked up 17 senior appearances for the Sky Blues before joining the Swans in the summer of 2017.

The Welsh Under-21 international always felt he would be taking one step back – to development football – in order to take two forward in the long term with the Swans.

And Harries believes he called it right having made his first senior Swans appearance – and produced an encouraging display – in the 1-0 cup loss to the Eagles.

“I’m really happy to have made my debut – I’m over the moon,” the central defender said.

“I’ve been here for a year now and I’ve been looking forward to this moment since I walked through the door.

“I played a fair few times in the Football League for Coventry and a lot of people were questioning why I stepped back into the under-23 environment.

“But I knew the long-term project was for me to improve. I think I’ve come back (into senior football) a much better player all round, so I think the move has been a successful one for me.

“The manager has been brilliant. He’s shown that he will throw players in at the deep end.

“He has given a lot of debuts out to younger players, but that’s how we want it to be. I think a lot of us did our chances of being involved in the future no harm with the performances in the Palace game.”

Harries, who toured with Graham Potter’s senior squad during pre-season, was one of no fewer than seven Swans players given their debuts against Palace.

Potter’s new-look team performed admirably against a much more experienced Eagles line-up, creating enough chances to claim a draw at the very least.

Now Harries is one of a number of youngsters hoping Palace will be the first of many appearances this season.

He added: “I could’ve done better in some areas of my performance, but I suppose that comes with playing and learning. With time, I’ll get better.

“We’re a bit low on centre-halves at the moment. For me it’s about looking after myself and doing everything I can to strengthen my chances of progressing.

“Like the other boys, I think I’ve benefited from the 90 minutes. Hopefully there will be more to come.”