UNDER-21 PREVIEW: Swans v West Brom

The Under-21s kick-off their maiden season in the Barclays U21 Premier League with a home game against West Brom at the Liberty Stadium on Monday (7pm).

The development squad - who won the Development League Two title last season - are playing category one football for the first time after a busy summer for the academy.

They also enjoyed a positive pre-season which included a three-game tour of Holland and matches against Wrexham and Yeovil.

And Head of Academy Coaching, David Adams, believes the work put in during the last five weeks will stand the squad in good stead ahead of the start of the season.

"Pre-season for us has been good," he said. "We have played a range of different teams that has prepared the squad well for our first test against West Brom.

"Our game against Yeovil was a very competitive match, I thought we stood up to the test and controlled the game well for large parts but category one football will offer different challenges.

"It will be interesting to see how the young players adjust to the games programme this season - but we are looking forward to it and relishing the opportunity.

"I think we will be competitive, we are well organised, we have a good defensive shape and in possession we are always hard to play against. 

"There is no doubt this season will be challenging but I think the way we play our game will help us in the league. For me the most important thing is for us to keep our identity, stick to our principles and ultimately try to produce players for the first team."

Summer signing Oliver McBurnie and trialist Josh Vickers are both included in the squad, while Connor Roberts is unavailable after the defender completed a one-month loan deal with Yeovil Town at the weekend.

SWANS U21 SQUAD (from): Josh Vickers, Oliver Davies, Dan Alfei, Raheem Hanley, Jay Fulton, Stephen Kingsley, Joe Rodon, Ryan Hedges, Daniel James, Josh Sheehan, Owain Jones, Alex Samuel, Henry Jones, Kyle Copp, Modou Barrow, Oliver McBurnie.