Everton defender Ashley Williams plays down previous criticism of Luis Suarez

Everton defender Ashley Williams has appeared to backtrack on comments that he made about former Liverpool striker Luis Suarez.

In his book My Premier League Diary, the Wales international accused the hitman of diving "more than any other player" and admitted that he had "no respect" for his opponent.

The pair played against each other a handful of times during Suarez's two-and-a-half-year stay at Anfield, which ended in 2014 when the forward decided to sign for Barcelona.

Williams, who joined Everton from Swansea City in 2016, went head to head with the striker again on Monday during Wales's 1-0 defeat to Uruguay in the China Cup final.

"That (comments in the book) was nothing really was it," the Daily Star quotes the defender as saying. "It obviously got blown up a lot bigger than it was. He's always a tough opponent.

"I said at the time, he's the hardest striker to play against in the Premier League. With regards to Suarez, I think that he's one of the best strikers in the world, and he's definitely one of the best I've played against."

Suarez has scored 21 goals in 25 La Liga outings this season.