Darren Pratley has joined the list of people urging the Swans not to sell the family silver in the summer

Pratley was speaking out as the queue of people reported to be interested in players such as Jason Scotland and Angel Rangel increased during the week.

Middlesbrough, Celtic, West Ham and Newcastle have all been reported to be showing an interest in various players from the Swans squad after a season where they have caught the public eye with some fantastic performances.

And with people braced for a flurry of bids in the summer, everyone is waiting to see the club's resolve in either holding on or progressing their squad with some new shrewd signings should monies come in from sales.

But Pratley believes the Swans should resist those bids and hold onto their key players ready for another assault - presumably on this division - next season.

He said “The best teams keep their best players, it’s as simple as that

“Most of the boys have done well in this league. They have shown they can cope and play well against the best sides the Championship has had to offer.

“The way this side has been playing it really would be a big loss to lose anyone.

“We really do need to try to keep hold of our best players if we are going to build on what we have done this season.

“You lose the good ones and suddenly at the start of the next season you can find yourself playing catch-up straight away.

“We’ve got a few players to come back and you would think a few more will be brought in this summer, which would be a good thing.

“It is always good to keep players in their toes and to spice things up a bit at the right time.”

The Swans head into today's game at Sheffield United looking for the win that they hope will keep their diminishing play off hopes alive and Pratley added All we know is that it is still possible and we will keep going until mathematically it is not possible any more

“A lot of the lads watched the Burnley game and were of course very disappointed with the result.

“It is not the best of situations anyway when you have to rely on other people to do you a favour.

“But over 46 games in a season everything does seem to even itself out and you end up in the position you deserve to be.

“But I suppose sometimes you can’t help looking back over the games. You do wonder what might have happened if we had turned a few of the draws into wins, but there are just too many games to look back.

“But all we can do is keep fighting until the end. We know we are running out of games, but we will keep going and try to get as many points as possible.

“If you had said at the start of the season there was a chance of us still making the play-offs with two games left people would have bitten your hand off.

“It is our first season in the league, we are working with one of the smallest budgets and we did not have many players who had ever played in the Championship before.

“So from that perspective you would have to say it has been a good season.

“But when you see how far we have come, how close we have come there is bound to be a bit of disappointment.

“I don’t think a lack of experience has been a problem, Sure, it took us a couple of games to get used to things, but after that we did well and held our own.

“Obviously we have had a few injuries as well and we have missed some players.

“But I think the biggest factor has just been too many draws. Next season we have to learn how to see out games.

“To make sure if we are winning a game then that is the way it finishes.

“We do need to be stronger in that way.

“But we have just got to take this as experience, look to the future and hope to get in the top six next season.”

SOURCE: http://www.walesonline.co.uk/footballnation/swansea-city-fc/2009/04/25/pratley-urges-swans-to-keep-their-stars-play-offs-or-not-91466-23468406/

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