After making his long-awaited return from injury in our pre-season friendly victory over Rochdale, Ben Williams says he is raring for the new campaign to get underway.
The tenacious, committed full-back featured for 45 minutes at the Crown Oil Arena and looked sharp as he patrolled the left flank in his first outing for more than a year.
“It’s a really good feeling after being out for so long, just to step out on the grass and get some minutes,”began Williams, speaking to iFollow Barnsley.
“I feel a bit leggy; it’s been a tough week training, but the fitness will come with the more games I get over pre-season. It took me a bit to get up to speed and I still feel like I could be a bit sharper out there, but all in all, I think that will progress as time goes on and I’m looking forward to the new season.”
Barnsley made their superiority count before the interval, with headed goals from Carlton Morris and Liam Kitching giving us control of the encounter.
The hosts responded after half-time through Aaron Morley’s penalty, but Williams insists that he and his teammates were in control as they continued to get valuable minutes under their belts.
“I thought in the first half we dominated and in the second half we dominated at times,” continued the 22-year-old. “We could have been a bit sharper in certain areas of the pitch, but the main topic is just to get the fitness in and get ready for the new season.”
Deployed at left-wing back, Williams showed plenty of encouraging, attacking threat in the second half as he latched onto several forward passes from midfield to make dangerous entries in the final third.
As well as having a blatant penalty turned down after being bundled over inside the area, he had an opportunity to score but saw his effort from close range gathered by Jay Lynch.
“It gives me a bit more licence to get forward – I received the ball in behind a few times and it’s a little bit different to where I’d played in recent times, but I enjoy that position and hopefully I can get some more minutes soon,” insisted Williams.
“I think I was caught in two minds; I got in that position and was sort of caught between the cross and the shot, but on another day I’ll probably score.”
Watch Ben’s full post-match interview on iFollow Barnsley!
