Melker Widell | I am eager to contribute to the team

Melker Widell is determined to keep making important contributions for Swansea City following a lively cameo from the bench in the 2-1 defeat at Stoke City.

Swansea trailed at the interval thanks to Ben Pearson’s stunning strike for the hosts. Sorba Thomas doubled Stoke’s advantage early in the second half but the Swans dominated the closing stages.

They got a goal back when two lovely passes from Ethan Galbraith and Widell teed up Zan Vipotnik for his 10th goal of the season, it was the Sweden international's first assist in Swans colours since his arrival from Aalborg.

The 24-year-old acknowledged it has taken him a little time to adjust and adapt to his new surroundings, but having been called upon regularly by new head coach Vitor Matos he wants to keep improving and helping the team.

"I want to contribute and bring as much energy as I can. I want to get into the spaces where we can create chances and score," he added.

"The goal may not have counted for much, but I can take that forward personally. There have been ups and downs whilst I've been trying to find my feet here.

"I would lie if I said the start of the season was easy for me, moving to a new country, getting used to the Championship.

"I have never been left out of a squad before, so that was a big learning moment. As a person and a player, I always try to work hard.

"You can either let if affect you, or look in the mirror and realise it'll be fine if you work as hard as you can. I've grown a lot in the last few months.

"Going forward, I want to help the team win for us and the fans, so hopefully there are more contributions to come from me."

Widell also felt the Swans were unfortunate to leave the Potteries with nothing to show for their efforts having had the better of the game up until Pearson's opener and then dominating the closing stages.

"I don't think it was a bad performance at all, but we are disappointed. We definitely deserved at least a point out of that game," said Widell.

"We wanted to build on our last two wins, and I do think we came out as the better team in most aspects. 

"They're also a strong team, with the home advantage. We had a good first half, then in the second half they get a goal at an unfortunate time, but we didn't stop fighting.

"We bounced back, got the goal and that gave us something to go after again. We created a few chances at the end, but they defended their lead well and it wasn't enough."