Anthony Wright proud of under-21s' performance despite late heartbreak

Coach Anthony Wright spoke of his pride in Swansea City Under-21s' performance against Brighton & Hove Albion despite falling to defeat to the Seagulls with seconds left on the clock in their Premier League Cup encounter.

The hosts denied the visitors the point they needed to guarantee a place in the knockout stages thanks to Mark O’Mahony’s stoppage-time header.

The Swans only needed a draw to seal a spot in the next round, with a game at Aston Villa - who currently sit top of Group A - still to come.

The 1-0 defeat sees Swansea remain second in the table - the top two go through - but the Seagulls have closed to within two points of Wright’s side ahead of the final round of fixtures.

The Swans had created the majority chances in the game with Cameron Congreve, Filip Lissah and Ben Lloyd all going close for the visitors, but O'Mahony struck in the 93rd minute to keep Brighton's cup hopes alive.

"Ultimately, I'm gutted for the boys. We didn't deserve that result, and I am proud of the performance they put in, I thought we should have gone on to win," said Wright.

"I thought we controlled the first half, and the conditions were tough. We worked our shape and we limited them and they didn't really have many chances.

"We played some really good stuff. We went in at half-time and said that we can push on a bit more, and then we came out and dominated the second half.

"I can't be critical as I thought the boys played brilliantly. We had a load of chances that came from different players and we had players who defended incredibly well.

"Again, we're proud that we've produced this performance against a category one side, but we all still feel disappointment that we let qualification slip right at the death."