PAULO Sousa has indicated he will look to avoid signing Welsh players in future after hitting out at John Toshack.

Swansea City's manager has criticised his national counterpart in the wake of Wales's midweek clash with Sweden.

Sousa refused to go into detail about what has upset him, but it is understood he had hoped Ashley Williams would be left out of the friendly after suffering a dead leg playing for Swansea last weekend.

And adding to Sousa's frustration is the fact that David Cotterill damaged a hamstring after coming on as a 65th-minute substitute on Wednesday which means he will miss tomorrow's trip to Nottingham Forest.

It appears Sousa is annoyed that Bolton's Sam Ricketts did not feature after picking up what was described as 'a knock' playing for Wanderers last weekend while Williams played the full 90 minutes.

"We feel we do not get the same treatment as the other clubs," the Portuguese said.

"The FAW do not give us the same treatment.

"It's something which makes me think whether I will get any more Welsh players when I am looking in the future.

"Not signing more Welsh players is something we need to think about as a club.

"If you remember in the beginning I said I would like to sign Welsh players, so you can analyse what I am saying now and reflect on it."

Toshack revealed after Wales's defeat that "three or four" club managers had been in touch to ask him to go easy on their players.

But in another swipe at Swansea's most successful boss, Sousa added: "I didn't speak to John Toshack.

"I don't know why he said that (about club managers getting in touch) because he doesn't have a phone."

Sousa has plenty of concerns aside from Toshack ahead of the top-of-the-table clash with Forest.

Cotterill joins an alarming list of absentees already featuring Fede Bessone, Albert Serran, Joe Allen, Andrea Orlandi, Jordi Lopez, Ferrie Bodde and the suspended Gorka Pintado.

Garry Monk (calf) is a doubt, meaning Alan Tate is likely to continue in central defence despite his ankle problem.

There is some good news, with Darren Pratley set to play and Cedric van der Gun poised to return to the fold after nine weeks out with a hamstring injury.

But Swansea's attempts to reinforce their squad with at least one signing look like coming to nothing for now.

"We have been working for two weeks and we need someone, of course," Sousa added.

"For us it is vital if we are to keep fighting the way we have until now."

While Swansea have struggled to push a deal through, Forest bolstered a squad already heavy on expensive talent by landing Peterborough's sought-after forward George Boyd this week.

His arrival at the City Ground illustrates the difference in financial power between Forest and Swansea — and indicates how well Sousa's men are doing to be just one place behind tomorrow's hosts in the race for promotion.

Strengths

"They are one of the stronger sides but we compete with them in different ways, by using our strengths," Sousa said.

"If we can win we will be closer to them with a game in hand and that will help our fans believe in us."

Swansea head to Nottingham on the back of a 12-game unbeaten league run.

The last team to beat them in the Championship were Forest, who edged a tight contest at the Liberty in December thanks to David McGoldrick's goal.

Billy Davies's men have struggled on their travels in recent times, but go in search of a 10th successive home league win tomorrow.