No divisions in Swansea dressing room, says Clement

REUTERS - Swansea City manager Paul Clement has denied divisions in the dressing room after a run of disappointing results, saying the team are working together to try to climb out of the Premier League relegation zone.

Swansea dropped to the bottom of the table after last weekend's 2-1 defeat by Stoke City, with Clement admitting emotions boiled over in the dressing room after the match.

"There's no divisions, it's a cohesive dressing room," the manager told a news conference on Thursday. "It's a dressing room that are disappointed, that are fighting, that are showing their passion for this club and they want to turn things round at this club.

"The issue in the dressing room was no big deal. It was me speaking mostly. There were a couple of views exchanged between the players but it was nothing abnormal.

"It wasn't disrespectful in any way. It was a healthy discussion. Some honesty was spoken and hopefully it has the right effect."

Swansea, who have nine points from 15 matches, host 17th-placed West Bromwich Albion on Saturday.

Clement said the Welsh side desperately need three points to gain some momentum ahead of their busy festive schedule, which includes fixtures against leaders Manchester City and fourth-placed Liverpool.

"We have nine points and we are nearly at the halfway stage," he added.

"We had 12 last season and we know we can stay up from there. We need a minimum of 12 at halfway, if we have less it will be very difficult."

Swansea's only positive at Stoke last weekend was a fine performance from striker Wilfried Bony, who scored his first goal since re-joining the club at the start of the season.

"I think the breakthrough he has made is he has got himself in shape. It is about being in shape and doing the best he can," Clement said.

Clement confirmed Federico Fernandez has returned to training after missing Swansea's last three games after the death of his father.

The Argentine defender will get some minutes with the under-23s team on Thursday and will be in contention for Wednesday's league match against Man City.

(Reporting by Hardik Vyas in Bengaluru; Editing by Mark Potter)