Swansea City Under-23s Gary Richards
23rd October
Gary Richards believes Swansea City Under-23s can match Aston Villa when the sides meet in Premier League 2 at Bodymoor Heath on Monday (2pm).
Villa, who lie sixth in Division 2, beat Swansea in the play-off semi-final last season before being denied promotion against Arsenal.
But five wins from seven this campaign has seen the Swans top the table heading into Monday's game and Richards feels the U23s must believe they can extend their unbeaten on the road.
"We have every right to go into Monday's game with confidence." He said.
"Villa have gone two games unbeaten and will be looking to extend their run. They are a very good Academy with some excellent young players, we know we need to be at our best get a result.
"We were disappointed to lose against them in the play-offs last season but aim to learn from that experience and build on it this campaign.
"We have played a lot of games already this season through four different competitions which has been great for our development.
"The whole squad has been learning and we feel we are getting better with each game. Both myself and Cameron (Toshack) are pleased where we are at this moment but know we need to continue the hard work on the pitch to progress this season.
