Ashley Williams dedicates match to Gary Speed

Swansea City and Wales defender Ashley Williams has revealed that the players did not want to call off the Premier League clash against Aston Villa yesterday out of respect for Gary Speed.

The 27-year-old, who played under Speed at international level, has admitted that he is still in "shock" over the sudden death of the 42-year-old.

"I'm still in shock to be fair", said Williams. "I just want to pay my respects to a great man in football and on a personal level.

"We wanted to play [against Aston Villa] because he's a footballing man and his life was football, so we wanted to play for that reason."

Before the match at the Liberty Stadium yesterday afternoon, the players and crowd gathered in a minute's silence for the late Wales manager.