Luke Williams pleased by professional performance

Head coach Luke Williams praised a professional showing from Swansea City as they booked their place in the second round of the Carabao Cup with a 3-1 win over Gillingham.

Goals from Ronald, Liam Cullen and Azeem Abdulai were enough to see off the Gills, who had briefly got back to 2-1 through an Oliver Hawkins header, having had Euan Williams sent off for a poor challenge on Kyle Naughton.

Williams admitted his side could have made their lives easier by making more of the opportunities they had, but he was pleased with a comfortable win and a place in the hat for the next round.

“I think overall it was a pretty good performance, although we were disappointed to concede late in the game,” he said.

“We probably could have taken a few more chances, but overall it was a very professional performance.

“It’s about not switching off, and that’s why we controlled almost the entire game, it was just disappointing to concede in the way we did.

“We are still trying to get some players up to speed, so this was a good opportunity for that.

“We managed to get the subs on at good times too, to get the right amount of minutes, so that was very good for us too.”

Williams was also happy with the quality of the goals, with Ronald sending an unerring low strike into the bottom corner as part of an energetic showing on the left, while slick build-up work led to Cullen and Abdulai’s finishes.

“I thought the quality of the goals was excellent, and we could have had one or two more with the chances we had,” added Williams.

“Ronald’s was a nice individual goal, and the others were good team goals so that was enjoyable.

“I thought it was really good for Azeem to get straight back in the starting line-up to get some good minutes.

“I am pleased he scored because he did a lot of good attacking work. He’d had one at the far post that did not go how he wanted, so he was brave enough to put himself back in there and he got his reward.”