Swansea City Under-18s Southampton Premier League Group 3

Swansea City Under-18s begin their Barclays Premier League group 3 play-off fixtures away against Southampton at Staplewood this Saturday (11am).

The scholars will be without five players for the trip to the south coast, including defender Connor Quigley and midfielder Tom Dyson.

Despite the absences coach Eric Ramsay believes it is a good chance for the side to show far they have progressed since the start of the season.

"We still have a strong squad to pick from," He said. "Due to injuries we will field a young side but for us it sets a tone for what the under-18s side will look like next season.

"This season has been a massive learning curve. Our main aim over the next seven games is to continue to develop and improve our performances.

"In the coming weeks we have a good opportunity to show how much we have learnt and how far we have come since the start of the season."

The Saints finished just one place and two points above Swansea in the south table before the play-off stage was decided.

A dominating display saw the Swans take a 3-0 victory over Southampton the last time the sides met at Staplewood in December.

"It was one of our best performances." Ramsay continued. "We controlled the game from start to finish, were excellent on the counter-attack and looked comfortable in possession.

"We hope for more of the same this weekend and go into the game full of optimism.

"We need to show that we have learned the lessons from the first stage of the season during these next seven games."

SWANS U18s (From): Lewis Thomas, Ross Treacy, Sean Hanbury, Joe Rodon, Brandon Cooper, Aaron Lewis, Jack Evans, Marco Dulca, Causso Darame, Dan Jefferies, Liam Cullen, Matt Blake, Jordan Garrett, Brandon Griffiths, Keiran Evans, Mael Davies, Jack Watts