SWANS: ‘It would be a fool not to say that’: Melker Widell admits the Premier League is the dream as Swansea head to QPR

Melker Widell says the Swans never talk about the Championship table in the dressing room, but he admits the Premier League is the dream.

Vitor Matos’ side go to Queens Park Rangers on Saturday (3pm) still top by a point, despite last weekend’s 1-0 home defeat to West Ham.

Asked whether promotion was the dream, Widell said: “Of course, of course. It would be a fool not to say that.”

‘It’s not a bad thing to dream big’

“To be honest, in the squad, in the dressing room, we never really speak about the positions on the table and stuff. We know that we’re first, and that’s a good thing to say that we are,” he said.

“The gaffer is really, really big on taking it one game at a time. It sounds boring, but that’s really what we are doing.”

“We really do take it one step at a time, and I think since we’ve shown this season that we can compete against everyone, then I think it’s not a bad thing to dream big as well.”

“That’s the beauty of being in the Championship, that you’re only one step away. Now, of course, it’s the most difficult league in the world, and you have to be consistent over such a long time and so many games.”

Why this Swansea side is different: ‘such a depth in the squad’

Widell was at the club when Matos arrived last season, at what he calls “a tough situation for the club”. “Last season was like a stepping stone for us with the gaffer and now this year, he’s really had preseason to implement his style, how he wants to play, and it suits the players really well.”

He credits the summer signings. “I think one of the biggest differences this year compared to last year is that we have such a depth in the squad. The team that starts one week won’t start the other week and the level of quality or performance will be almost the same.”

“That’s a real testament to the club’s ambitions for us.”

‘The ticket to play here is doing the counter-press’

Widell has played on the wing and in midfield for Matos, and he says the way into the side is simple.

“The ticket to play here is doing the counter-press. And if you do the counter-press well, then you will get some minutes and that’s a really easy thing to grasp as a player because that has only to do with your head.”

“I’ve always been a player that runs a lot,” he said. Since coming to the Championship, he has spent time in the gym “to try to get a little bit bigger, a little bit more physical”, because “there’s so many duels. Every game is just a war.”

Matos on Widell: ‘one of our main strengths’

Matos said on Thursday that Widell had been “quite important for us” in recent games, with “assists and with a lot of intensity”.

“He’s one of our main strengths and it’s up to me always to use that in ways that I believe will help the team,” he said.

Asked whether Widell runs more than anyone, Matos said: “I think it’s not only about the amount. It’s really the quality, the timings, the understanding of when and the commitment.”

A Sweden recall? ‘I’m hopeful’

Widell won a Sweden cap before joining the Swans, and says a recall is something he dreams about. “Sweden also has a really competitive squad at the moment. They did really well. I was happy to see us go to the World Cup.”

“I know that as long as I’m doing my part, I’m sure that there will come more opportunities now. When that will come, I don’t know, but I’m hopeful that if we can keep going like this, it will come.”

QPR away: ‘another answer to our own questions’

Widell sees Saturday as a chance to respond. “If we can bounce back against QPR, that will be another answer to our own questions that we have in our minds.”

QPR start the weekend just outside the play-off places on goal difference, after a 3-0 defeat at Birmingham ended a five-game unbeaten run. The Swans have won six of their last eight league games on the road.

They will be without Ronald, who faces six to eight weeks out with a hamstring injury.