Anthony Wright was delighted with Birmingham City’s win

Head coach Anthony Wright was delighted with his Swansea City Under-21s who overcame a strong Birmingham City side at the Swansea.com Stadium to all but guarantee a place in the Professional Development League play-offs from the end of this month.

Joe Thomas’ first-half goal was the difference as he slotted home from a corner in stoppage time to rightly put the home side ahead at half-time.

And the Swans almost doubled their lead early in the second period when Bradley Mayo tipped Ben Lloyd’s vicious effort onto the bar.

But in the end it was a resolute second-half defensive performance that sealed the three points, with Evan Watts making some good stops while Kian Jenkins also headed over from the line.

“We’re very, very happy with the players and the different aspects of the game they’ve shown,” Wright said.

“This is probably the best team we have played this season in this competition. They’re an established under-21 side and we were quite a young side, so to see young players step up like they’ve done at times, I’m really pleased with that.

“I thought we had a lot of control, especially in the first half, but the second half became more open and we had to absorb some pressure. But again, we’re so pleased that the players stuck together and got over the line.”

The Swans coach took time to praise the entire squad for all they have achieved in another successful campaign for the development side, who reached the final of the Nathaniel MG Cup earlier in the season.

“We’ve had a cup final, it looks like we’ve finished second in the league, we’ve faced Division One programs in the Premier League Cup group stage – which is the toughest competition we’ve been in – and we’ve come through that and I thought we were great.

“We lost the quarter-finals to a very strong side but objectively the season has been about us trying to stretch players as much as we can and more importantly getting players into the first team. We had three debuts this year which is fantastic for the academy and that is the main aim.

“We start again next year. It’s the end of the journey for some players and I can’t praise them enough because they still show up every day and work their socks off to be better.”