Toshack rues missed opportunities

Cameron Toshack admitted Swansea City Under-23s needed to make more of their chances in the final third as they fell to a 3-1 defeat against Manchester City in Premier League 2.

Despite including the experience of goalkeeper Erwin Mulder, captain Leon Britton and winger Nathan Dyer – playing his first minutes since picking up an Achillies injury in February – the U23s fell behind to Phil Foden’s first-half strike.

The midfielder doubled City’s advantage minutes after the restart before Oli McBurnie provided the Swans with a lifeline only for substitute Lorsezo Gonzalez to secure a win for the visitors with a goal inside the final ten minutes.

“We are disappointed with the result but pleased with our competitive edge,” the Under-23s coach said.

“We gave ourselves a mountain the climb but were in the game for about 45 minutes and kept pushing them back by winning a lot of territory.

“We were on top for large spells but we did not take our chances we created in the final third. 

“We’re normally pretty good at cutting teams open and passing forward but tonight we went backwards too often. 

“We competed well but must start to be more clinical with the chances we create in front of goal.”

The young Swans once again included a number of players with first team experience in their starting XI.

And Toshack reserved praise for Dyer, who played his first minutes after being sidelined by an Achillies injury eight months ago.

“It was great to see Nathan get his first minutes back on the pitch,” he said.

“We are delighted this game was part of his rehabilitation and hopefully he is on his way to becoming fully fit.

“Another positive was having our young players line up alongside the experience of Leon, Erwin and Nathan.

“To play with the guys that have played in the Premier League is great. They require different standards and it’s great for the young lads to see what they are.”