Swansea City Under-23s Gary Richards
9th March
Coach Gary Richards says Swansea City Under-23s know what is at stake today as they face a must-win game in the Premier League Cup against Bristol City at Aston Gate (2pm).
The young Swans lost 4-0 against the Robins in the return fixture at Landore last month which saw them slip to third in Group A.
The result means the U23s can't afford to drop any points in today's fixture if they are to reach the last-16 of the competition.
"It's a must win game," said Richards. "If we lose or draw we are out of the competition and we don't want that to happen.
"The manner in which we lost our last game against Bristol City last month was not acceptable. We were disappointed with our performance in that match, but we have an opportunity today to put things right."
Swansea have since claimed an impressive 5-1 win over Hertha Berlin to reach the semi-final of the International Cup.
Monday's victory over West Brom also ensured they are one result away from lifting the Premier League 2 (Division 2) title. Despite those results, Richards knows they must not lose focus on this competition.
"Monday was an important win, but as a group we need to keep grounded," he continued. "Myself and Cameron (Toshack) want to see a focused and professional performance today.
"This is another huge opportunity to progress in a cup competition and if we play well, I feel we can get the right result."
SWANS U23s SQUAD (from): Gregor Zabret, Lewis Thomas, Aaron Lewis, Keston Davies, Tyler Reid, Connor Roberts, Tom Plezier, Joe Rodon, Adam King, Jack Evans, Keiran Evans, Ryan Blair, Adnan Maric, George Byers, Tom Dyson, Kenji Gorre, Daniel James, Botti Biabi, Jordan Garrick, Oli McBurnie.
