Wright: U18s have to be at their best

Anthony Wright insists Swansea City Under-18s must not take anything for granted when they welcome bottom side Reading to Fairwood Training Ground in Premier League South on Saturday (1pm).

The young Swans are looking to make the perfect start to the calendar year having ended 2017 with back-to-back wins against Chesterfield in the FA Youth Cup and Fulham in the league.

Meanwhile, Reading are bottom of the table after collecting just two wins from their opening 11 games of the Premier League South season.

Nevertheless, Wright knows his side will be in for a tough match against the Royals.

“It’s been three weeks now since we last played, so we’re looking forward to the game,” he said. “We finished 2017 in a strong manner with a good win away to Fulham. 

“From the players' perspective, it was good for them to win against Fulham because it gave them the rewards they deserved and maybe hadn’t got in recent weeks.

“Over the last six or seven years, Reading have always finished in the top three or four in the league. The league table doesn’t matter as it’ll still be a very difficult game and we have to be at our best to win.”

The young Swans’ last two victories came after a run of five games without a win, with four defeats during that spell.

But Wright believes the results do not reflect the effort of his players and maintains that he and Jon Grey are impressed by their development in a tough league.

And he has urged the young Swans to build on their current winning streak and carry that momentum into Wednesday’s FA Youth Cup clash with Fulham.

“We want to win every game we play but, from our side of things, it is mainly about developing the players,” the coach explained. “Obviously, in an ideal world, we want to do both. 

“Performances have been a lot better than the results suggest. We’re competing in every game we’re playing and, as a club, we’ve moved forward over the last couple of seasons. 

“The players are adapting to this level a lot better now.

“We’re on a winning streak at the moment so, if we can get a positive result on Saturday, it’ll give us a lot of confidence to take into our game against Fulham on Wednesday.”