Boss gives USA tour thumbs up
17th July
Francesco Guidolin declared himself happy with Swansea City's pre-season progress in America despite seeing his team suffer defeat in their second tour fixture against Richmond Kickers.
The Swans beat Charlotte Independence 4-0 in their opening friendly of the summer, but they are heading home on the back of a 2-0 loss to Richmond, who are also an United Soccer League side.
On a difficult night for Guidolin's men, Jordi Amat's own goal saw the Kickers go in front before an electrical storm forced the players off the pitch three minutes before half-time.
They eventually returned some 95 minutes later, with Guidolin sending out an entirely different XI to complete the game.
For a while the Swans looked like getting back into the contest, but it was during the visitors' best spell that Richmond broke away and doubled their lead through Anthony Grant.
There was to be no Swans fightback after that, but Guidolin was unconcerned by the scoreline.
"It was a difficult test because we played against a good team who were very, very quick," said the Swans boss.
"We were a little bit tired in this period, but that's normal. It's normal in pre-season to have performances which are up and down.
"I think the players have worked very, very hard in this period and in this game as well.
"It was an good test for us because it is important at this stage to get used to the rhythm of games again.
"I am not worried about the results. I know at this time in pre-season we can have performances which are up and down. This is normal."
The Swans will now fly home to continue their build-up to the new Premier League season, which begins in just under four weeks' time.
They will be soon be boosted by the return of no fewer than six senior figures in Lukasz Fabianski, Neil Taylor, Ki Sung-Yueng, Jefferson Montero, Gylfi Sigurdsson and skipper Ashley Williams.
And Guidolin reckons the American trip was a positive start as his players get set for 2016-17.
He added: "It has been a good trip for us. We have worked well. It's a good country and the weather is good - maybe a little bit too hot!
"The players have built up their fitness and the most important thing is that we haven't picked up any injuries."
