Swansea City Under-21s Newcastle Gary Richards

Coach Gary Richards believes Swansea City Under-21s rode their luck to take a point from their trip to Newcastle in Premier League Division Two on Monday afternoon. 

A second-half Oliver McBurnie penalty helped the Swans take a 1-1 draw at Whitley Park after Newcastle striker Ivan Toney broke the deadlock on the hour mark.

Both sides battled for a winner in the second half only to share the spoils.

And Richards felt the young Swans were fortunate to come away from the North East with a point.

"I think we were lucky today," he said. "Even though we had good spells in the game, we were not at the levels we have been used to this season.

"A draw today on paper looks good but we are disappointed with our performance.

"Myself and Cameron (Toshack) have made it clear to the team that we need to be better in possession when playing away from home.

"We gave the ball away far too easily and were untidy at times, which could have cost us.

"The positives are we had the best chance to take the lead in the first half and hit back quickly after going a goal down.

"But we must remember a few of our players have not played 90 minutes so far this season - Keston (Davies), Kyle (Copp) and Tom (Holland) all got good game time to add to their development."

The U21s now have a three-week break before their next game at home to Aston Villa in mid-October.

And Richards believes the break could come at a good time for the development squad.

"Despite a draw we can go into the break pleased with where we are in the league," he added.

"We must now look to build from our win last week and draw today when we play Villa in a few weeks."