New Swansea head coach Russell Martin maintains that his side still have much room for improvement despite a comfortable 3-0 victory at Reading in the Carabao Cup first round.
Swansea went ahead in the 16th minute against a youthful Reading side – average age 19 – when defender Joel Latibeaudiere nodded in at the far post.
With the hosts offering little going forward, City secured their safe passage into round two with second-half goals from Ben Cabango and Joel Piroe.
“Obviously, it was brilliant to win my first game as manager here,” Martin said. “I was really pleased with so much of the stuff that we saw tonight.
“I felt that it was certainly progress from Saturday [a 2-1 Championship defeat at Blackburn]. I said to the guys that, despite the youth of the Reading team, no game is easy.
“But the players made it easy for themselves in the way that they played – they looked after the ball and had the intensity to react when they lost it.
“There was so much to be pleased with but there is still so much to work on. We’re really early on in what we want to do and what we want to be.”
With Reading in financial trouble and under an EFL transfer embargo, manager Veljko Paunovic has been unable to sign any players this summer.
“I’m just very proud of the effort, mentality and character of this young team,” the Serb said.
“To be honest, I’m very encouraged by their performance and with their consistency. They never lost composure.
“It was tough for us, playing for the first time with a team like this. But they worked hard, worked together and never gave up.
“And that’s what we always look to have, just those types of characters.”
