Tonight's Swansea City transfer news as Swans prepare to say goodbye and 'dress rehearsal' sets standard

These are your Swansea City headlines on Sunday, April 28

Williams happy to see positives

Swansea head coach Luke Williams says the 2-2 draw with Norwich City bodes well for their chances next season.

A point against play-off-chasing Norwich is another decent result in a string showing to the end of the campaign under Williams.

Goals from Jamie Paterson and Matt Grimes earned the visitors a share of the spoils at Carrow Road against a team who have been gunning for promotion this season.

Williams feels the result and performance shows they are on the right track for progression.

"It was a high-level game, both teams had spells where they were dominant and had plenty of shots, and there were big chances," he said.

"A draw was a fair result but I felt we gave a really good account of ourselves today.

"I think this is an opportunity for us to try and look at what the top six looks like and see if we can compete with that, especially away from home.

READ MORE: Norwich City 2-2 Swansea City: Swans maintain unbeaten run with hard-earned point at Carrow Road

READ MORE: 'Mad as a box of frogs' - Luke Williams' verdict on out-of-contract Swansea City stars' futures

"We have a lot of positives to take from this. They are a very good team and when you see them up close you see the quality they have. It’s a tough place to play, it was packed and the motivation for them is so obvious.

"That’s where we want to be, we want to be playing in games of that level to try and achieve something, and this was a positive in terms of looking to the future about how we can try to move forward and perform.

"We started well, and we created a couple of chances before the goal. Then Pato is so difficult to play against and he got the breakthrough.

"I felt we lost a grip of the game a bit after that goal actually, but we were able to regroup and we came out again in the second half with more intensity and energy, and we made a great action for the penalty."

Grimes: Work for next season already started

The scorer of that penalty, Matt Grimes, says there is no such thing as a dead rubber when playing for Swansea.

Some had suggested that with little on the line for Swansea in East Anglia that perhaps minds would be elsewhere as the season peters out.

But Grimes, who was making his 300th appearance for the club he skippers, dismissed that notion and says he and his team-mates are learning all the time under Williams and they are laying the foundations for next season already.

“We knew this would be a good test and a bit of a marker really to see where we’re at, and how far we’ve come since the new manager has come in,” said Grimes.

“I thought it was a really good game of football, and I thought they were very good and we were decent as well, and a point was a fair result. Three wins and three clean sheets is unbelievable against anyone in this league, but to come here against a team in the play-offs, stamp our authority on the game and play the stuff we wanted to against a very good and experienced side was a good day.

“Everyone keeps throwing it at us that we’ve got nothing to play for, but we do. We’re preparing for next year, we want to finish the season as strongly as possible.

"Obviously, playing a top team away from home, they are going to have moments and I thought we were brilliant defensively.

“This run is almost like a dress rehearsal for next year, we want to play the way we do at home, away, no matter where we are, no matter the situation we’re in.

“We want to keep building, layering up our performances as we go along and I think everyone can see the strides we’re making and the progress. So we need to keep going, keep ticking them off and finish this season strong and take it into next season.”

On the milestone that he reached against Norwich, he added: “I’m always happy to contribute with a goal, and it’s an honour every time I pull the shirt on.

“To get 300 appearances is beyond anything I thought I could achieve here, so I’m very happy and proud to reach that.”

Swans prepare to say goodbye

The game against the Canaries was the penultimate game of the Championship season, with one more match to come.

Swansea host Millwall on Saturday lunchtime in a 12.30pm kick-off, which will give Swans fans an opportunity to say thanks and goodbye to the loan players who will be departing come the final whistle.

Charlie Patino, Bashir Humphreys, Carl Rushworth, Jamal Lowe, Harrison Ashby and Charles Sagoe Jr will all see their loan contracts end this summer, while Przemysław Płacheta's short-term deal also comes to an end.

Williams has made no secret of the fact he would like to keep Rushworth in SA1 beyond this season but admits that looks unlikely.

"I think it's going to be difficult for us to get him back here," Williams said earlier this month. "He's been incredible and I think he will be the first to say that he's worked with the top goalkeeping coach and it's been a good experience for him.

"He's played for a really top club and had a lot of minutes in a really good league. So it's been really beneficial all round for everyone.

"If he has some sort of terrible pre-season and it all goes wrong then he'll always be welcome back. But I think it might be difficult because of the level he's at and how much demand there's going to be for him."

Liam Walsh, Joe Allen, Kyle Naughton and Paterson are also out of contract.