Swansea City midfielder Leroy Fer has told his teammates to take inspiration from last season in their battle to avoid the Premier League drop.

The Swans will spend Christmas in the bottom three of the division following Monday night's 3-1 loss to Everton, which leaves them four points adrift of safety.

Fer knows just how big his side's next outing is, with a resurgent Crystal Palace visiting the Liberty Stadium on Saturday afternoon, and the Dutchman hopes that a run similar to last season can be put together as they dragged themselves out of the dropzone by spring.

"We have to lift ourselves now and look ahead to Crystal Palace," he told the club's official website. "It's a massive game for us on Saturday. That is the same with every game right now because we are bottom of the league, but we are at home and we know we need to get some points.

"We have to do the same as last season now. We have to fight back in the second half of the season to make sure we survive. We wanted to be in a better position but we haven't been able to get there. What we have to do now is change things around."

Swansea have lost 11 of their last 14 matches in all competitions.