LUKE Williams has urged Yaser Kasim to knuckle down and give his all for Swindon Town after missing out on a dream move the Premier League.

Both Swansea and West Ham were understood to have shown interest in the Iraq midfielder and Town chairman Lee Power admitted to BBC Wiltshire that he was confident a deal with a team in the top flight could be done, only for that to fall flat on transfer deadline day.

Williams acknowledges that Kasim will be disappointed not to have secured a shot at playing in the Premier League but he must now concentrate on giving his all the County Ground.

The Town manager still thinks the 24-year-old is more than good enough to cut the mustard at the top level and the best way for him to do that in the future is by playing well for Swindon.

“I think it went right down to the wire with Yaser,” Williams told BBC Wiltshire.

“If anybody in any walk of life is offered something that is so above and beyond what you have been doing, it’s really like from going working on the till at Tesco to managing director overnight in terms of the level of income and also the lifestyle, so many things will change and to be so close to it, I suppose every single person would start to dream about that life and what it would feel like and what it would look like.

“But Yaser will get there, he will play at the top level, there’s no doubt. At the moment he needs to re-focus on being a Swindon Town player.”

The fact that no deal went through is good news for Town as it means they will keep hold of one of their prized assets until the end of the season.

Williams hailed the influence the former Spurs man has had on the team over the last few years and hopes to benefit from many more good performances.

“He’s an incredible player and has been a huge part of what we have done at Swindon over the last two-and-a-half seasons,” added Williams.

“If Yaser goes onto bigger and better things, he goes with our blessing. On the flip side of that, if he stays with us we are delighted that we have got such an important player.”