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As Swansea City brushed aside Newcastle United at the Liberty Stadium, home supporters basked in the sunshine as Garry Monk's men progressed to an almost effortless victory.

Watching on, the majority of the 20,678 crowd could have been forgiven for thinking it was almost too easy, the Swans dispatching Steve McClaren's side as if they were lowly Championship opposition.

A cool Bafe Gomis finish – following a superb 21 pass move – and an Andre Ayew header proved too much for the Toon.

But with the dust settling on Saturday's win, a deeper look at things paints an even brighter picture than the one displayed by merely the performance alone.

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Forget the likes of Ayew, Gomis, Gylfi Sigurdsson and Jonjo Shelvey for a second, it's the men who weren't involved against Newcastle who show just how far Swansea have come as a top-flight club.

Look past Monk's first choice side – one which pretty much picks itself at the moment – and you can see the Swansea boss has a new-found wealth of options from which to choose.

Just take a look at the men on the bench last Saturday.

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Players such as Wayne Routledge and Nathan Dyer, both regulars in the Swansea side in the Premier League, had to be content with replacement appearances.

New signings Eder and Kristoffer Nordfeldt – a goalkeeper admittedly - didn't even make it off the bench while even club legend Leon Britton had to be content with a late cameo after being on the periphery of the team for the last six months or so.

And even a £3.5m summer signing in the shape of former St Etienne defender Franck Tabanou had to accept a seat in the stands after Neil Taylor's impressive playing response to his arrival.

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It all paints a pretty rosy picture down in SA1, where a balanced, competitive squad are determined to improve under a motivated young manager.

Since their first season in the top-flight in 2011, Swansea have spent their Premier League years mainly preoccupied with reaching the 40 point mark and avoiding relegation.

After a record-breaking campaign and an eighth placed finish last time out, that's no longer the case.

And while bettering that might be a tough ask in the months ahead, it's now got to the point where Monk is able to field two sides of genuine Premier League quality.

The club's former defender has talked up the value of the squad and gets tetchy at talk of his 'best' XI, saying all will contribute.

But, that aside, let's just take a look at how a theoretical Swansea Second XI would line-up for a second.

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In goal, Monk can call on a Sweden international in Nordfeldt as a replacement for Lukasz Fabianski with Angel Rangel, Kyle Bartley, Jordi Amat and Tabanou capable of making up a 'reserve' back four.

The first three of those have been loyal servants in SA1 while Tabanou, a French Under-21 international, is a hugely promising defender despite not being able to even make the bench against Newcastle.

While it's clear Swansea have rearguard reserves, step into midfield and attack and things get really interesting.

Britton and Jack Cork, who is competing with Ki Sung-Yueng for a spot in Monk's main XI, could sit in with Routledge and Dyer in the wide channels.

How a Swansea City Second XI might look

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Only 12 months ago, Dyer's scintillating early season form saw a clamour for him to be included in Roy Hogson's England squad.

Now, he's being forced to compete with the likes of Ghana star Ayew and the flying Jefferson Montero.

That leaves two places left to fill.

Sticking to Monk's favoured formation of a man in behind the main striker, £5m summer signing Eder and young attacking midfielder Matt Grimes, who impressed on the pre-season tour to Germany, could be a tasty combination.

That's without even mentioning the likes of Jay Fulton and Marvin Emnes, both players who are more than capable of doing a job at Premier League level.

With no fresh injury concerns, all of those mentioned above will be competing for a spot in Saturday's matchday squad as the Swans visit lowly Sunderland.

(Image: PA Wire)

poll loading Would our Swansea City Second XI avoid Premier League relegation? 500+ VOTES SO FAR YES NO

The Black Cats have endured a nightmare start to the new campaign and while it might seem churlish to compare Swansea's second string with Dick Advocaat's men after just two games of the new season, it might not be an exaggeration to say you'd put your money on the visitors.

Indeed, it's an interesting hypothetical question as to whether Swansea's second string would survive in the Premier League.

Of course, it's a poser we'll never get an answer to.

But even asking the question in the first place proves something of a point.

In pre-season, Monk made a point of emphasising why he thought he'd assembled the strongest squad in the club's history.

It's fair to say, he has done just that.