U18s look to build on record win

Swansea City Under-18s' coach Anthony Wright wants his side to make the most of experiencing that winning feeling again when they host Brighton in Premier League South on Saturday (11am).

On the back of their biggest-ever victory in a Category One fixture, a 6-0 thrashing of Norwich that moved them off the bottom of the table, the academy side prepare to face a mid-table Brighton squad that will test their resolve at Landore.

The hosts held a narrow 2-1 victory over the Seagulls last time out, but confidence will be high following an emphatic victory over Norwich last weekend.

After ending a difficult run of results, Wright knows his side will need to be at their best to keep their momentum going.

“The focus for us is to just keep doing what we do,” Wright said.

“We’ll have a couple of under-16s dropping in again, but the side will predominantly be the under-17s for us.

“So, for them we’d like to think that they take confidence from last week. Momentum in football is huge, so on the back of a 6-0 win, can you now go and put a good performance in against a good side.

“We beat Brighton away this season, but that on paper was one of the strongest teams we have put out, and it was a challenging game.

“We managed to win the game 2-1, but Brighton are a decent side, so we know what’s ahead of us.

“We’ve had a good focus throughout this week in training, so it’s down to the boys now to go and try to perform on the day."

With a positive outcome to build on, the age-grade side will be hoping to finish the season strongly after climbing off the bottom of the league.

But Wright knows that there is a long-term plan for his squad and was pleased with the development his players had shown following their last performance.

“We have to give the boys the praise for the result because winning 6-0 in any game of football is fantastic,” Wright added.

“The way I look at it as a coach is down to the players that were on the pitch, are they developing? Are they showing learning? That’s the key focus for us.

“Results-wise it’s been a tough season, so I was really pleased for the players as well, there was a nice atmosphere after the game and something for them to be proud of as a collective group as well."