A great tonic for our U21, against a side that’s given us problems in the recent past.
Jon Grey didn’t appear to be there today – perhaps working? Lots of the U18 squad present, plus Tiv Rushesha, Kyle Joseph, Liam Cullen and Ollie Cooper, as well as Russell Martin arriving in the 2nd half.
I’ve only seen Kian Jenkins play once before and apparently he’s come back from 4 operations. A big round of applause from his playing colleagues when he stepped onto the pitch today and he got involved quickly and constructively in the time he was on, in a left-sided role behind Lincoln McFayden, who also made a telling contribution on his return from injury.
We started 3-4-2-1 and went to 3-5-2 when Ruben Davies came on. Wasiri Williams switched to the right when Kian Jenkins came on and was himself subsequently replaced by Harry Jones. Lots of good individual performances – Tarrelle Whittaker has quick feet and performed well today. Nat Ogbeta should be in our first team squad, without a doubt.
Swansea City Under-21 (3-4-2-1): Archie Matthews (Remy Mitchell 46m), Kai Ludvigsen (Kian Jenkins 69m), Brandon Cooper (captain), Wasiri Williams (Harry Jones 79m); Joe Thomas, Azeem Abdulai (Ruben Davies 58m), Joel Cotterill, Nathanael Ogbeta (Lincoln Mcfayden 58m); Tarrelle Whittaker, Ben Lloyd; Josh Thomas.
Colchester United Under-21: Jayden Peglar, Lordon Akolbire (captain), Lion Beko (Taizo Marcel-Dilaver 60m), Matt Yates, Andrew Palmer-Brown (Frankie Edwards 60m), Naz Knereouche, Kai Redgrave, Ryan Lowe (Bayan Aman 46m), Jamie Arnold, Kennedy Mupomba, Kaan Bennet. Unused subs: Jaime Tedaldi, Sean Brown.
Goals: Redgrave 0-1 (1m), Whittaker (pen) 1-1 24m, Josh Thomas 2-1 50m, Josh Thomas 3-1 60m, Ruben Davies 4-1 66m.
Booked: Swansea – Josh Thomas 54m, Lloyd 68m. Colchester – Redgrave 15m, Yates 52m, Akolbire 85m.
Here’s the official match report.