Luke Williams admits some of his Swansea City players are 'going to put two fingers up' at him following his comments in the wake of the defeat to Sunderland last weekend.

The Swans boss was visibly upset by the way his side threw away a two-goal lead to go down 3-2 at the hands of the Black Cats, and accused his side of lacking the mentality needed to overcome the top sides in the Championship.

Indeed, the Swans have so far lost all their meetings with the current top six, a run that has clearly irked Williams, who's made no secret of his ambitions to try and make his mark on the upper echelons of the league this season.

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"If you look at the league table, I think we've lost seven against the top ten," he said. "Won one. Drew one. Then below us, we've barely lost a single game. So we could not be more bang on in terms of being where we deserve to be."

Asked if he stood by his comments, Williams replied: "Yes. Because in this moment I'm correct. The league table is telling me I'm correct.

"So I was in am emotional state, but still in a presence of mind enough to believe what I'm saying is true.

"That doesn't mean for one moment that I doubt us as a group. Far from it. I'm just making really clear that this is how we've performed up until nearly halfway.

"Even at my school, I can work out the maths that we need to do slightly better, to do a lot better."

Despite seemingly being so critical of his players, Williams says his squad have responded positively this week, with the club poised to travel to bottom-of-the-table Hull City this weekend, although he admits his comments might well have ruffled a few feathers in the dressing room.

"They've responded well," he added. "They always do, and I've been impressed by the amount of times they've been challenged already, and have risen to that challenge. I'm impressed with them in that way, but if I don't keep pushing them then it's unfair and I'm not doing my job properly.

"In football if you stand still for a moment, you go backwards. So we have to keep driving forward and that's certainly what we'll always be doing and the group have responded to that well.

"The questions I've put to the players [after the Sunderland game, are tough ones and no one wants to be questioned on their mentality.

"I expect, knowing the group, that they're going to put two fingers up at me quietly and show me they are capable of sustaining their performance throughout 90 minutes and they can go an get results against top six sides, and that they can be consistent against the middle of the table.

"So that's what I'm expecting from them."

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The recent run of results against the Championship's top sides will have caused many to wonder whether Swansea have the squad needed to really make any sort of meaningful challenge for the top six, particularly with January around the corner.

However, Williams has dismissed suggestions that the teams above are there due to having more quality.

"No they haven't [got more quality]. We have enough quality. But our quality is only really obvious and very difficult to play against when we have the mentality to match it. I believe that. I really do.

"We can go toe to toe with those teams. I think it's fair of me to say that the performances have shown we can go toe to toe. You never expect to be able dominate a game from start to finish against any one of those teams.

"But if you can dominate periods of those games, then you're competing.

"We've performed pretty well. But where we've come unstuck is when we come away from the principles that have got us into a good position in the first place.

"The way the team moves around the pitch without the ball, in harmony with each other, with distances which deny space for opponents, with aggression that stops opponents from being comfortable on the ball.

"When we play with the bravery to make the right pass, whether we have to pause for a moment or play with one touch, when we have to bring the ball from the air and make an action or we just defend the ball. There are subtle differences which make a huge difference."

Swansea take on Hull at the MKM Stadium on Saturday. Kick-off is at 12.30pm.