Jonny Williams: I thrive off the belief that Charlton manager Lee Bowyer has in me

BY LOUIS MENDEZ

After year upon year of roaming from loan spell to loan spell, Jonny Williams finally looks like he’s found a new home with Charlton Athletic.

The former Crystal Palace midfielder made the move across South London as he signed a short-term deal with the Addicks midway through last season – helping the team achieve promotion to the Championship.

He re-joined Lee Bowyer’s side in the summer and has played a big part in their unbeaten start to the new campaign.

The Welsh international puts his good form down to the management of Bowyer.

“He’s given me a belief,” said Williams.

“The main thing is he’s believed in me as a player. I haven’t always had that in my career. That does help with my game when I’ve got a manager who puts their arm around me. At times Palace I didn’t really have that. I was finding it within myself when I wasn’t the player I am showing I am today. It’s down to him believing in me and giving me a chance.

“It’s probably the fittest I’ve felt in a long time. Sometimes its hard to maintain for ninety minutes, the tempo I try and play at. But he’s managing me and I’ve had a full pre-season, thankfully down to him. Had he not invited me along with the team, I don’t know where I’d be right now fitness-wise. Whether I would have played as much as I have. I probably wouldn’t. I’ve just hit the ground running this season.

“It’s a league I’ve played the majority of my career in. The end product was always something I wanted to work on and was missing from my game. Now I’m starting to add that. It would be nice to get on the end of a few chances but he’s just telling me to keep making the box and things will drop. I’ll just continue to do that. It’s a pleasure to work alongside him. I’m really enjoying my football at the moment.

“He’s been working on that side of the game with me, my defensive side. He’s made me fitter for a start. He’s working on all aspects of my game, going forward and tracking back. It’s something you see Lyle Taylor doing week in, week out. Even Tomer Hemed, he hasn’t been here long but you saw him tracking back to the left-back position today. It’s things like that that get you over the line. They’re the differences, those fine margins where you put the extra graft in to work for the team.

“It’s definitely the best start to a season of my career. It’s maybe my eighth or ninth season professionally and it’s definitely the best start I’ve had. Sometimes I was still at Palace at this point and looking to go out on loan by the deadline. I’d had missed the first five games of the season usually. As a player, performance wise I’ll probably compare it to the time at Ipswich when I went there on loan. It was my first ever loan, I played under Mick McCarthy and I played about sixteen games on the trot. The end product was there and I was feeling great. It’s probably up there with that.”

PHOTOS KEITH GILLARD