Garry Monk: 'We have worked hard to progress'

Swansea City defender Garry Monk has insisted that everyone at the Welsh club has had to work hard for their recent success.

The Swans have progressed from a struggling Divison Three club to an established Premier League side in the space of nine years, and the 34-year-old centre-back claims that luck has played no part in their rise up the English league pyramid.

Monk told BBC Wales Sport: "If you would have told me this eight or nine years ago I would have laughed at you.

"It's been brilliant, it's been such a good journey. But whatever anyone says, we deserve it.

"We've worked hard and it's not as if we've got lucky. Every single person that's played for the club, everyone involved - the chairman, the fans - everyone has worked for it. We thoroughly deserve to be where we are."

Swansea are currently in eighth place in the Premier League table while they also reached the semi-finals of the Capital One Cup earlier this week.