Luke Williams | We were beaten by the better side on the night

Luke Williams admitted Swansea City had been beaten by the better side on the night after seeing his side exit the Emirates FA Cup at the hands of Southampton at St Mary’s.

The Swans fell to defeat in the third-round tie as a Kamaldeen Sulemana goal and a brace from youngster Tyler Dibling saw the Saints book themselves a meeting with Burnley at the next stage of the competition.

The head coach acknowledged his side’s performance had not been what they had hoped for, but felt the quality shown by Premier League opponents played a part in that.

“I think it was too much for us tonight, we were outclassed by a stronger side," said the Swans boss.

"I've got no complaints about the effort made by the players. We were guilty of some sloppy play, and of course the opposition are forcing that and capitalised on that.

"We played against a very strong side, last season they were a top Championship side and they are now competing week in and week out against some of the best teams in the world.

"Of course we want to do better, there's no question about that. We wanted to do far better than we did.

"But the reality is we were not able to cope with the opposition when they attacked us, and we were not able to make big chances to score goals.

"We did not manage to cause them enough problems."

One positive for Swansea was the welcome sight of Josh Ginnelly getting out on the pitch for a first appearance since rupturing his Achilles against Sheffield Wednesday in September 2023.

The winger was introduced as a late substitute on the south coast and, while there is still plenty of work ahead, Williams was pleased to get his first chance to see the former Hearts player on the pitch.

"Gino has had a very long journey back to fitness  He has worked so hard and so that was a reward for him and all the work he and the medical staff have put in," added Williams.

"He is a player we hope we will be able to see more of and include in the squad more often.

"He has got a lot of talent, and he has shown real mental strength to come through all the setbacks he has had.

"We were very pleased to see him out on the pitch, now we have to make sure we keep taking steps to get him in a place where he is ready to play regularly.

"That's the next challenge for him."