Cameron Toshack applauds U23s' all-round display

Swansea City Under-23s coach Cameron Toshack has hailed the all-round performance of his side in their 1-0 win over Sunderland as “one of the best he had seen for quite some time”.

The development side earned their second victory of the Premier League 2 Division Two season, as Brandon Cooper’s first-half header was enough to secure maximum points.

Following on from Thursday’s impressive 1-1 draw against PSV Eindhoven in the Premier League International Cup, the young Swans dominated large parts of the contest at Landore and were unfortunate not to enjoy a more comfortable win.

And Toshack has been delighted with the response of his players over the past week following their 5-0 defeat by Reading last Monday.

“That was one of the best all-round performances I’ve seen from an under-23s side for quite some time,” he said.

“We defended one-on-ones very well; we controlled possession and found some really good patterns of play with intent and speed. That’s what Swansea City teams want to look like when playing possession-based football.

“As I’ve said before, we do need to be patient with these young players. But today and against PSV, we are really pleased with them because they’ve shown a superb reaction from the disappointment of the Reading game.

“To react so quickly and put such good numbers on the board in terms of passing and patterns of play is magnificent. It’s fair to say that over the past couple of games, they have really played like a Swansea City team should.”

Nevertheless, the under-23s coach has urged his players to be more clinical in front of goal, as the failure to take numerous chances left victory hanging in the balance until the final whistle.

“If we were to be picky, the only thing we would say is that we could have won that game by five or six goals with the opportunities we created,” he added.

“When that happens, as the game goes on, the opposition are still in it – regardless of what has happened before. We need to be a little more effective in the final third. 

“We probably created enough chances to win three or four games today but, nevertheless, that is a great positive to build on.”