Luke Williams hailed Swansea’s intensity as they rose four places in the Championship table with a 1-0 home win over Watford. that made it back to back triumphs in the space of three days.
Myles Peart-Harris’ first goal for the club made it back-to-back victories in the space of three days and ended a near five-hour wait for a home goal at the Swansea.Com Stadium.
“I’m pleased because we played well again. The players deserved to win,” said delighted Swansea boss Williams.
“For the first hour, we looked the only team capable of going to win the game. In the last half-hour Watford posed a lot more pressure and we had to dig in.
“We were very intense, with lots of concentration and we quickly destroyed the opposition attacks.”
Williams was pleased with the performance from the 22-year-old Brentford loanee Peart-Harris, who also hit the post in the first half before scoring his first goal for the club.
“He’s a young player who has had to adapt. Now he’s doing more than adapting, he’s looking very comfortable,” added Williams.
“Before with some opportunities, he perhaps lacked some self-belief that he would score. He ended up in the goal with the ball tonight and I love that.
“I feel like we’re becoming a team with an identity and we’re going in the right direction. Maybe we could have had a few more points, but we should be happy we are now two points off the play-offs.
“We have to maintain this now and we can look forward to a good season.”
Watford head coach Tom Cleverley had hoped to see his side make it three wins in a row after beating Blackburn and Sheffield Wednesday but a lacklustre first-half performance was backed up by a more aggressive second half, albeit with no shots on target.
“It’s two steps forward, then one step back. That’s been the story of our season – as well as flat first halves,” said Cleverley.
“It’s something we have to address urgently. Two forward and one step back will give an upwards trajectory, but it’s inconsistent and that’s frustrating.
“I’ll hold my hands up, we showed too much respect. The players have to take responsibility because we had no identity for an hour.
“Until the substitutions, we didn’t look like scoring. We didn’t have much personality and after last weekend, that surprised me.
“We played with fear and that’s my responsibility. We let Swansea have too much possession.
“I can have no complaints with the result this evening. We must as a team learn that you can’t feel your way into games.
“Today, it was too little too late. Against good outfits like Swansea, you give yourselves much too much to do.
“I will look at myself. I felt like I didn’t give us any tactical edge to go and win this game and I have to take responsibility.”
Interim boss Stephen Frail expects Motherwell to appoint a new manager next week and admits their first job will be to lift the players’ confidence after a 3-0 mauling at home to Ross County.A double from Ronan Hale and Connor Randall’s last-minute strike secured an impressive victory for the Staggies at Fir Park.Defeat sees the Steelmen drop into the bottom half of the Premiership tab...

Mark Hughes heaped praise on goalkeeper Gabe Breeze after Carlisle picked up a vital point in the League Two relegation battle with a goalless draw against in-form Colchester at Brunton Park.Breeze made two excellent saves from Lyle Taylor as the Cumbrians ended a four-game losing run and the former Man City boss was astounded by the 21-year-old’s performance.He said: “The game had som...

Chesterfield boss Paul Cook launched a scathing attack on his play-off hopefuls after they surrendered an early lead to lose 3-1 at Sky Bet League Two table-toppers Walsall.The Spireites enjoyed a rapid start when Jamie Grimes’ eighth-minute header put them ahead against a wobbling Walsall side, who were winless in five matches with the chasing pack closing in.However, Bim Pepple and Dylan D...

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has allayed fears of an injury scare to top scorer Erling Haaland ahead of next week’s Champions League trip to Real Madrid.Haaland went down clutching his leg in the latter stages of the champions’ 4-0 Premier League thrashing of Newcastle at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday and was immediately substituted.Losing the Norwegian would be a major blow to ...

Rotherham manager Steve Evans described Thomas Parsons’ performance as “atrocious” after the referee awarded a stoppage-time penalty from which Reading snatched a 2-1 victory in League One.Reading had led 1-0 at half-time through top scorer Harvey Knibbs but Sam Nombe levelled for Rotherham from a spot-kick in the 57th minute.With the game heading for a draw, Parsons adjudged Mil...

Michael Flynn believes his team can make a charge towards the League Two play-offs places after watching them come from 2-0 down to beat Barrow 3-2 at home.Matty Taylor scored twice before fellow substitute Ashley Hay hit the winner as the Robins continued their perfect home record in 2025.Cheltenham climbed to 13th in the table and sit eight points off seventh-placed Crewe with two games in hand....

Birmingham manager Chris Davies praised Jay Stansfield’s work ethic after he lit up St Andrew’s with the only goal of a 1-0 win to sink play-off chasing Charlton.Stansfield’s 23rd-minute strike stretched City’s lead to nine points ahead of second-placed Wycombe, with Blues boasting a game in hand.Victory was City’s 30th in all competitions as they extended their unbea...

Andoni Iraola refused to get carried away after Bournemouth fans were left dreaming of a potential Champions League adventure following a first league double over south-coast rivals Southampton.Travelling Cherries fans chanted of playing in European football’s premier competition next season after their side soared to fifth spot in the Premier League table thanks to a deserved 3-1 success at...

Norwich head coach Johannes Hoff Thorup praised his side for fighting back to draw 1-1 at Hull after he demanded “I want to see my football team back”.The Norwich boss had some tough words for his team as they trailed 1-0 at half-time to the relegation-threatened side, including for Kellen Fisher – but the player then delivered the assist for Josh Sargent’s equaliser.The Un...

Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers says Jota has a chance of starting against Bayern Munich after scoring and impressing in a 3-0 victory over Dundee United.Jota earned the club’s man-of-the-match award after cutting in from the left and curling home from 18 yards to double the lead given to the hosts by another impressive finish from Callum McGregor.The Portuguese winger has now started two gam...


