Alfie Mawson: Swansea City defender has bright future - Paul Clement

Alfie Mawson signed for Swansea City from Barnsley in a deal worth £5.5m

Swansea City head coach Paul Clement says centre back Alfie Mawson has a bright future ahead of him at the club.

23-year-old Mawson arrived at the Liberty Stadium from Championship side Barnsley in August of 2016 and has performed well despite never playing in the first tier before joining the club.

Swansea face Everton needing to win as they fight Premier League relegation and Clement believes Mawson's fine form will help in them stay up.

"He can be very good," Clement said.

He continued: "He is so young and does not have a lot of experience at this level. You can see there is that rawness about him that really catches the eye, the next moment there is something he should not be doing.

"But he is at the age where he is developing. He has a lot of good attributes, physically, technically and tactically. So he can go on and do really well."

'Forming a nice partnership'

Mawson has struck up a promising partnership with fellow centre-half Federico Fernandez, much like his predecessor and club captain Ashley Williams.

After the departure of Williams to Everton in the summer, the Argentine international suffered a dip of form, but has worked well at the back with Mawson.

Centre-half Frederico Fernandez has 32 caps and three international goals for Argentina

"He [Fernandez] has hit some really good form. He was very, very good against Manchester United in his defending," said Clement.

"He could do better with the ball at times, but he and Alfie are forming a nice partnership.

"Earlier in the season there were too many goals going in, but they have had a fair share of games now where they have only conceded one goal or kept a clean sheet so that is good."

With a late kick-off at the Liberty Stadium, the Swans know they could be as much as five points behind the side they are chasing, Hull, when they take to the pitch.

The Tigers entertain already relegated Sunderland.