Luke Williams says Swansea City’s festive fixture list gives his players a chance to prove they can cope with the weight of expectation.

Swansea kick off a run of five Championship games in a fortnight when they go to bottom-club Hull City on Saturday (12:30 GMT).

They then face three more sides who are in the lower half of the table, with home games against Queens Park Rangers and Luton Town followed by a trip to Portsmouth on New Year’s Day.

While 10th-placed Swansea have struggled against the second tier’s top clubs this season, they have a fine record against the sides currently below them in the table.

And Williams says his team are faced with a “massive opportunity” to maintain that form.

“Now we have a chance to have a look at these players – who we love because they have a swan on their chest – and see how they cope with expectation,” said the Swansea head coach.

“It’s an opportunity to try to perform in a way that has been successful for us against the teams below us. Let’s see if we can be consistent with our performances.

“That’s going to come from individuals and as a group. Can they perform the same way, or do they start to feel pressure?”

Williams has backed his players to respond after he was critical of their mentality following last weekend’s 3-2 defeat by Sunderland.

Swansea had been unbeaten in four games before crumbling against the Black Cats, who came back to triumph after going 2-0 down early on.

Williams’ team now take on a Hull side who have slipped to the foot of the table having failed to win in 13 matches.

The Tigers have taken one point from two games under Ruben Selles, who left Reading to take over at the MKM Stadium a fortnight ago following the sacking of Tim Walter.

Williams says Hull will be playing with a “different mindset” as a result of Selles’ arrival

“We don’t expect anything easy,” he said.

“We expect a group with new energy and new ideas. It’s difficult to analyse them because things are changing already.

“But we should go there feeling we are confident enough to give them a really tough game.”