'We must make possession count'

Gary Richards has urged Swansea City Under-23s to be more clinical in the wake of their defeat by Manchester City.

The young Swans were beaten 4-1 at Landore on Saturday despite matching their opponents for the majority of the contest.

They were in control for long periods of the second half, but were made to pay for not turning their superiority into goals against opponents who went top of Premier League 2 as a result of their victory.

“For 75 minutes, we were very much in the game,” the under-23s coach reflected.

“The first half was fairly even. They had a bit more of the ball and caught us on the counter-attack for their goal. But, to be fair, our players showed really good character to equalise within two minutes.

“We played quite well for about 25 minutes of the second half. We had the better of the play and a lot of the ball, but could not turn it into goals.

“The last 14 minutes were difficult for us because, once they got their noses back in front, they showed their quality and looked a much bigger threat.”

Aaron Lewis was on target for the Swans for the second time in four games, but the home side conceded three times in the closing stages. 

And Richards has called on his players to use Saturday's experience to their advantage as they aim to climb the league table.

“We had good territory and got into good positions but without threatening their goal enough,” he added.

“We also knew that defensively we would have to be at our best for the full 90 minutes, which we weren’t for the last quarter of an hour.

“It’s a lesson we must learn. We know there is a lot of quality in the league so when we have good spells in the game, we need to make them count.”