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THERE are two types of footballers. The ones who are willing to play with pains, aches and sprains and put themselves out there week after week. And then there are the ones that don’t.

Seeing as Ashley Williams is set to make his 150th consecutive league appearance on Saturday, it’s easy to see which type he is.

If Ash starts at Wolves it means he won’t have missed a game in the league for the club since August 2008. That’s some achievement.

Even more so when you think of squad sizes in the modern games and the fact most managers like to rotate and rest players in long seasons.

But that shows how big a player Ash has become for Swansea.

Of course, he’s been fortunate to avoid injuries over that time. As much as you might be willing, it’s impossible to play if your hamstring goes – although I was never quick enough for that to happen to me!

But then there are those sprains, those niggles that you put off and push yourself through to get out there and play.

Some won’t, but I know Ash has played through injuries and the bumps and the bruises he would have got playing in a role like centre-half.

I know him quite well – we live close and I often bump into him – and he’s the type who wants to make the most of every opportunity and won’t let the odd minor concern get in the way.

He deserves credit for that, but also for the level of performance he’s delivered all the way through.

Fit or not, you have to be in form.

And for me, he’s been as important to Swansea’s success as anyone. Crucial in fact.

I’m not the only one – he’s played under three different managers at the Liberty and he was probably one of the first names on the team-sheet for each one.

He’s a real leader and his consistency over the past three years has been top notch.

So is anyone really surprised clubs like QPR are still supposedly sniffing around?

I heard about some reports that Neil Warnock is looking at him again but he’s well tied-up for the next three years at the Liberty after signing his new deal in the summer.

And Swans fans shouldn’t be worried. I was linked with every single club in the Football League at one stage or another.

It happens when you’re playing well, when you’re doing your job. When I was ever linked with one of the big clubs I used to find it a huge boost that the way I was playing was interested the top sides.

I wanted to go out there and not earn a move, but just show that I was being linked for a reason.

There’s going to be attention and interest in Ash because of the level he’s performing and if it carries on then it’s great news for Swansea because they need players like him at their best this year.

And he has every right to be talked about. You look at Roger Johnson who was at Cardiff City a few years ago and came up through the leagues like Ash and went to Wolves for £4.5m in the summer after a lot of talk about who was in for him.

Even Joleon Lescott who went for £23m last year. For me, there’s not an awful lot between them.

Johnson’s a good player – and would have gone for a lot more if he wasn’t in the last year of his contract – Lescott too and although I don’t think he was worth that amount of money, it shows the market right now and the company Ash is in.

I wouldn’t want to see Swansea cash in on him but, if they did, you’re looking at double figures. He’s a £10m player for me, I rate him that highly.

He needs to carry on that kind of form now, especially at Molineux at the weekend after the disappointment at Norwich.

When you’re away from home – and it doesn’t matter if it’s against Man Utd, Wolves or Norwich – you have to defend well and defend well from the start.

Do that, and with the front players Swansea have, you’re always going to create a chance and be able to nick a goal.

Last Saturday they didn’t and Brendan admitted that too many switched off, especially at the set-piece.

For whatever reason, it didn’t happen for them at Norwich so they have to get it right quickly and imperative they start well at the back.

Because Wolves will be looking at this is as a big game and a big chance for them.

They’ve had five defeats in a row now and if I was them I’d be looking at Swansea without a point on the road and thinking it’s a great opportunity to stop the rot.

I’m sure they’ll be putting a few early balls into the Swans box – as Norwich did – to try and test them.

Swansea have to give themselves a chance by keeping it tight at the back in those early stages.

They can – their defensive record at home shows that – and it’s a great chance to get a monkey off their back.

A lot of people are talking about the away record and no points from four and forgetting about the fact we’ve played three of the top sides.

They’re probably the same people who were saying Swansea couldn’t score at this level and then watched as they put three past West Brom.

That shut them all up and Swansea have to look to do the same again.

Hartson on Wales' climb up FIFA World rankings

GOOD to see Wales climb back up the Fifa rankings this week.

And to go from 117th in the world to 45th isn’t too bad a jump!

But I don’t get the people who are moaning again that it shows the rankings up.

It’s simple; the reason we were 117th a few months back was because we couldn’t win a game for love nor money.

The reason we’ve gone up to the top 50 so suddenly is because we’ve beaten two top 20 sides then gone away to Bulgaria – who were 35 places above us before kick-off – and beaten them on their own patch.

It doesn’t matter if you agree with the rankings or not, the way they work is if you win games you go up, you lose you go down.

I think everyone in Wales agreed being below countries like Guatemala and Haiti was embarrassing and a false position because of the players we had.

But at the same time it wasn’t false because we hadn’t won games. It’s great to be climbing, but it’s even better to be winning again and long may it continue.

Hartson on the Welsh Premier

THE Sgorio cameras are at Farrar Road on Saturday - good job too because Bangor v Neath is lining up to be a cracking game.

I’ve said all along Neath are my tips for the title, but it’s far, far too early to start writing off Bangor if Terry Boyle’s side get a win at the weekend.

There’s a lot more twists to turns yet – it could be the tightest title race for a long time this year with the number of clubs in the mix.

And don’t forget, Bangor won their first 16 last year and still got taken to the final day by The New Saints.

It will be a big boost to Neath’s confidence if they can get a win up there like they did last year, but never write off a Nev Powell team.