Defender Alfie Mawson has praised Carlos Carvalhal for accepting an offer to become the new manager of Swansea City.

On Thursday, the Premier League side announced that Carvalhal had replaced previous head coach Paul Clement, less than a week after parting ways with Sheffield Wednesday.

Carvalhal arrives at the Liberty Stadium with the club sitting five points adrift of safety, but Mawson has said that he and his teammates must react positively to the appointment of the Portuguese.

The 23-year-old told Sky Sports News: "It is a big job. I credit him for coming because a lot of managers would have turned their nose up at this opportunity.

"We haven't been performing well enough and that is down to us but fair play to him [Carvalhal] to come in and say: 'I believe in the ability of the squad' and hopefully we can turn things around.

"We have got to take that on to the pitch. You could bring in any manager in the world but if the players don't want to work then that is down to us. We need to feed off his energy. When he came in he was very animated, positive and energetic. I think that is what we need, an uplifting character."

Carvalhal's first game in charge is against Watford on Saturday afternoon.