Swansea City Under-21s Derby Premier League Division Two

Coach Gary Richards conceded Swansea City Under-21s were second best as they went down 2-1 against Derby at St George's Park on Monday night.

An Oliver McBurnie opener was not enough for the development squad as the Rams hit back with two goals within two minutes in the second-half to condemn the U21s to their second defeat in Premier League Division Two.

The Swans could have equalised late on when striker McBurnie saw his powerful shot well saved by Derby's keeper Jonathan Mitchell before midfielder Jay Fulton fired wide seconds before the final whistle.

And Richards believed the young Swans didn't do enough to win.

"We didn't reach the levels we have performed at in the first three games," he said. "We did not control the game or pass the ball enough and lost possession too much when it counted which meant the game became stretched.

"We were not at our best in the first-half but we started the second much brighter with Ollie scoring at a good time for us.

"But Derby kept pushing and equalised through a freak goal that caught out Gregor (Zabret) and then punished our defending minutes later with the second goal."

Swansea went into the game making three changes due to injuries to Raheem Hanley and Daniel James with Stephen Kingsley also unavailable due to his loan move to Crewe. 

And the Under-21s suffered another loss when goalkeeper Josh Vickers had to be substituted at half-time after the 19-year-old took a blow to the head while bravely keeping out an attack in the first half.

"We have had to make changes because of loans and injuries," Richards added. "But we have a big squad of players who can do the job at this level.

"Josh (Vickers) had to come off at half-time after taking a knock to the head and Botti Biabi made his debut and did well for the hour that he played.

"We have done really well in our first three games but our levels dropped and that cost us.

"We have a week before our next game against Wolves and we will need to work on areas that let us down."