Michael Duff | That was pleasing, but we must not get carried away

Head coach Michael Duff was pleased with the manner in which his Swansea City side rounded off their pre-season preparations at Reading, but says there is plenty more work to do.

The Swans secured a 4-0 win over the Royals at the Select Car Leasing Stadium, with Joel Piroe netting a brace and Jerry Yates and Matt Grimes also on the scoresheet.

Piroe fired an unstoppable volley into the roof of the net to give the Swans the half-time lead, and a relentless start to the second half yielded three further goals in just seven minutes.

Piroe got his second from a pinpoint Grimes cross, while Yates was the beneficiary of excellent pressing work to sweep home his first goal in Swansea colours.

Grimes then rounded off the scoring by finishing off good build-up with an unerring strike from the edge of the box.

There was also a fifth clean sheet in seven pre-season fixtures, with Swansea ending this period with 16 goals for and three against.

Additionally, there was the welcome sight of Joe Allen and Josh Ginnelly playing the final 16 minutes as they returned from injuries to provide a timely fitness boost ahead of next weekend’s Championship opener against Birmingham City.

All of which amounted to a good afternoon’s work for Duff and his team.

“I was pleased with the performance and the scoreline,” said the Swans boss.

“We asked for something that was not a pre-season performance, we wanted a dress rehearsal for how we want to try and look.

“I thought it looked more like we want it to look, there was some good football, but we mixed it up with some penetrative football as well.

“There were good goals within it and another clean sheet, so that’s a bonus, and I thought there were moments where we looked a good team.

“We had another positive with Joe Allen and Josh Ginnelly getting out on the pitch, so it was a good day and hopefully the first of many.

“The key is not to get too carried away with it, the same as with the last two performances, but there has been a lot of work, and a lot of information given to the players in the last two weeks.

“It is going to take time, it’s impossible for it to click immediately because if it were that easy everyone would just do it.

“It takes time, players need time to adjust, to learn. We would love to have more time but we are looking forward to getting going.”