The Swans, looking to avenge their Boxing Day 5-0 thumping against the Saints at St Mary’s will though be without Ben Cabango, Josh Key, Sam Parker and Liam Walsh for the match against the side sitting in third place in the division.
“Harrison [Ashby] is training, I expect him to train fully today, so he is available,” said Williams.
“When I have seen him [Harrison Ashby] in training you can see some of the physical tools that he has and the quality he brings. Unfortunately, we didn’t have him available for the Birmingham game, but it is brilliant to have him as an option now.
“Ben is not back yet but we feel he is going to be back on the grass soon. This one is a bit too early for him. Josh [Key] is a bit longer term.
“We have to wait to the extent of that [Sam Parker’s hamstring injury]. I don’t want to put any time scales on that at the moment.
“Liam [Walsh] is going to take some time. He’s had some time off, now he has to get strong enough to train.”
The game will be the first-time former boss Russell Martin returns to South Wales after his departure from the club in the summer. Along with assistant Matt Gill and goalkeeping coach Dean Thornton, Martin’s new side after being relegated from the Premier League last season have been in imperious form of late.
After a slow start, the Saints have climbed into the automatic promotion picture with a 20-game unbeaten run seeing the South-coast outfit just three points off second place Ipswich.
The Swans themselves under caretaker head-coach Alan Sheehan and now Williams have also turned a corner in recent weeks rising to 15th place in the Championship losing just one in their last six matches.
As the home side start a daunting run of games with five of the next seven matches against the top seven teams in the league, Williams feels tomorrow be a tough assignment, but believes his side have the tools to get something from the game.
“Southampton are a brilliant side and Russell has done an incredible job there,” continued Williams.
“Everyone knows there will be similarities [between Williams and Martin] but there will always be an evolution where coaches go their separate ways.
“I hope there is a lot of goodwill. I was part of that team, and I certainly wouldn’t want any ill feeling towards Russell, Gilly [Matt Gill], or Dean [Thornton].
“We have to play a really brilliant game tomorrow otherwise we’re not going to get anything off a side that good.
“We are trying to make our preparation and make it clear how well we need to perform to be competitive, but it is impossible to say anything other than they are a top side in the division.
“They have some good players, but you have to instil a spirit and have the togetherness. You can’t just have a good group and hope the players go out and perform.
“We have to try to have a tussle with them to try and dominate the game. There are different ways to dominate – I’m not saying that Southampton won’t touch the ball and we’ll pass around them because that is ridiculous.
“We do though have to be brave and try to find our moments in the game to gain a foothold and establish ourselves because we know that they are going to be a huge threat.
One player Williams has been impressed with is former Stoke City wing-back Josh Tymon whose delivery created both goals in the 2-2 draw with Birmingham last weekend.
“I’ve been really impressed [with Josh Tymon] with his performance in Birmingham, enthused Williams.
“He showed real intensity and was there in the game constantly. He has pace and I thought his delivery was excellent. I’m looking for him to make a big impact on this game.
“With the quality of set-piece delivery and combine that with the ability of guys like Harry Darling and others within the squad that try and score from the set-piece you always have a chance.
“The run is really tough, but it is an incredible opportunity because we are trying to now do things in a slightly different way.
“We have now the most difficult opposition and if we can come through them with some return, which we will, logically it is somewhat easier after.”
[Lead image: Swansea City FC]
