Williams sees improvement in struggling Swans

Mark Scott
Ashley Williams: Says Swansea City's season has been unacceptable

Ashley Williams: Says Swansea City's season has been unacceptable

Swansea captain Ashley Williams has hailed his side’s 0-0 draw against Crystal Palace as their “best defensive display of the season”.

The Welsh club are unbeaten in their last three games under the stewardship of caretaker boss Alan Curtis after a dismal run of one win of 11 Premier League matches – a slump that saw Garry Monk part company after taking over in February 2014 and the Swans plummet toward the drop zone.

After claiming another hard-fought point, Williams revealed to reporters after the game that he is seeing encouraging signs from the 2013 League Cup winners.

“Confidence is slowly coming back and you can only get confidence by performing well,” Williams said.

“You can see the guys are trying to play out of tight situations, which they maybe wouldn’t have done earlier this season.”

Swansea have now kept three consecutive clean sheets following the stalemate at Selhurst Park and Williams reserved special praise for his fellow defenders who kept Crystal Palace at bay.

“We kept another clean sheet, which is really pleasing, as well as another point towards where we want to be,” Williams added.

“I think it was our best defensive display of the season. We had to defend a lot of crosses and, as a unit, the desire and heart was there for everyone to see.”

The improvement in form has come at time where there is still uncertainty as to who will become the next permanent manager at the Liberty Stadium, with Curtis admitting that the club have made no progress in their search for a new boss.

17th-placed Swansea, who are two points clear of the relegation zone, have an away trip to Old Trafford next on their agenda before home games against fellow strugglers Sunderland and high-flying Watford.

As for the potential contenders for the permanent job, ex-Sunderland and Brighton manager Gus Poyet remains the bookies’ favourite.