Luke Williams hails academy work following Lloyd debut
Head coach Luke Williams has praised the work of the Swansea City academy after Ben Lloyd became the latest product to progress to first-team level by making his debut against Queens Park Rangers.
Attacking midfielder Lloyd added his name to the list of talented players who have rolled off the production line at the Joma High Performance Centre over the years when he was introduced as a late substitute in the 3-0 Boxing Day win over the R’s.
The 19-year-old first joined the club at under-12 level, and comes at the end of a calendar year which has also seen the likes of Aimar Govea and Filip Lissah handed their senior bows.
And Williams believes the work being done to prepare the players at academy level is paying off in how the perform and conduct themselves when handed the chance to step up.
“The work that goes on in the academy is incredible, I love it. We are so proud of the people who work in the academy,” said Williams.
“Ben has trained a lot with the first team, and what has been instilled in him about how to train, how to behave correctly, and how to respect first-team training has been clear to see.
“He has done all of those things, and then you add in his own personal qualities as a professional football player.
“If you do that every time you come up with the first team, and you train the right way, you behave the right way, and you show your qualities and put yourself in front of the manager then you have a great chance.
“So I am very happy for him and for everyone in the academy. This debut was not given to him as a favour, Ben has had to work really hard for it and he got out there and did great.”