Swansea City took on Oxford United in a pre season friendly this evening at the Kassam Stadium in what turned out to be the toughest test so far this summer. Injuries and stops in play were the main concern, especially with Ben Cabango going down and substituted in the second half.

Early chances for the Swans were not taken with Jerry Yates starting up front with Joel Piroe as Jay Fulton and Josh Key introduced themselves to the U’s defence in the first minutes of this friendly. However, Oxford slowly worked themselves back into the game and a mix up between Matt Grimes and Ben Cabango led to the first goal. A snapshot from Marcus Browne wasn’t dealt with by Swans keeper Andy Fisher who once again let the opposition go ahead with a very poor execution.

The half progressed and Oxford remained comfortable building from the back with little to be concerned about which led to them gaining a very decent foothold on the game. Both Jay Fulton and Harry Darling took knocks in a competitive match that saw the Swans with little reward for their effort. Comparisons will be made to last seasons Russell Martin side and not a lot looked different in this half. The Swans were comfortable but really weren’t going anywhere and Oxford remained composed and dangerous on the break.

On the facts of the first half Michael Duff won’t be happy with what was a lethargic effort from his side which saw the forty five draw to a close with little for the Swans to be pleased about, at least on paper. The mistake from Fisher and the inability to take command of the game will be a slight concern, however these are the games that produce player development as pre season wears on.

Or so we are told.

Oxford started the second half comfortably with Branagan nearly taking an opportunity with the half three minutes old. Swansea born Oxford striker Mark Harris went down injured which held up play for a few minutes but the Swans seemed more aware of their defensive frailties than moving the ball forwards to cause the U’s problems. Both Yates and Piroe found themselves isolated, Olivier Ntcham in a more central position found link play difficult, and really over the first fifteen minutes it was rinse and repeat.

On the sixty Yates was replaced by Liam Cullen but the half wasn’t getting any better for the Swans with Oxford well organised in front of the three thousand plus crowd. The inevitable change for Cabango happened on sixty seven minutes with Branson Cooper replacing him. It has to be said this wasn’t a well organised or in any way a performance that many Swans fans would have expected. Especially after recent behind closed door games. Ntcham tried to make a difference, but it was very lack lustre and slow.

What really summed up the issues this evening was the decision making. It was slow and ponderous throughout. The positives, and there always will be, Michael Duff has seen what his squad looks like after an intense three weeks and four tough behind the closed door games. To say it’s been full on for this Swans squad since Duff’s arrival is an understatement. There has been little time off and lots of post match training and rehabilitation. There is a saying that score lines don’t matter in games like this, and that’s very much a fact, but performances are also very important. On the face of it there’s not a lot to take from this on the surface, but the new head coach may well put us right.

It will be interesting to hear what he has to say.

Stand by.

Oxford United: James Beadle, Sam Long, Ciaran Brown, Jordan Thorniley, Elliott Moore (captain), Josh McEachran (Oisin Smith 64), Cameron Brannagan, Mark Harris (Fin Stevens 64), Marcus Browne (Gatlin O’Donkor 64), Tyler Goodrham (Yanic Wildschut 77), Ruben Rodrigues (Trialist 77).

Unused Substitutes: Eddie Brearey, James Golding.

Swansea City: Andy Fisher, Josh Key (Azeem Abdulai 77), Jay Fulton, Ben Cabango (Brandon Cooper 68), Harry Darling, Matt Grimes (captain), Jerry Yates (Liam Cullen 64), Olivier Ntcham (Jamie Paterson 82), Joel Piroe, Nathan Wood, Kyle Naughton.

Unused Substitutes: Ben Hughes, Ollie Cooper, Ben Lloyd, Joe Thomas, Josh Thomas, Joel Cotterill, Filip Lissah.

Referee: Dean Whitestone

Attendance: 3,206

Away fans: 615

Photographs with permission Swansea City AFC

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