Williams opens the door for youngsters to shine

Luke Williams faced the press yesterday ahead of the first of the final two games of a season that is ending strongly after failing so often to deliver under three managers.

When we reflect back fully on the season that was 2023/24 there will be very few memorable moments but instead we will think of a season where the recruitment failed to deliver more often than it did and the appointment of a manager in Michael Duff who was the wrong fit completely for Swansea City leaving the question to always be how we managed to get it so wrong.

But with the Swans facing their last away trip of the season at promotion chasing Norwich on Saturday Williams admitted that he will have the same group of players available to him over the last two games as he has done for the last couple.   That in itself is not a bad thing if you factor in that the Swans head to Carrow Road on the back of three straight wins all achieved with a clean sheet that has left us considering the possibility of a top half finish when just a few short weeks ago the talk was that we could end up in a relegation battle.

Norwich go into the game knowing that a victory should just about seal their place in the end of season play offs although they will go in very much the underdog against whoever they will face in the semi final but it will also not be lost on their fans that they could be on a collision course of a two legged semi final against their nearest rivals in Ipswich.   Much football still to be played before that all becomes clear but they will want to secure that play off place this weekend if at all possible.

Williams did though open the door for some of his youngsters to shine in the last two games when he said “We have that in mind. There’s a balance between dishing out appearances when they have not been earned, we have to be careful with that, but at the same time there’s an opportunity for players to get out there and feel it.

“I think we are in a very similar position to where we were last week.  We are not going to see any of the injured players ready for the last game, so we won’t see them again before the end of the season.”

Williams spent some time at Norwich as a player in his teenage years “My 12th birthday I signed for Norwich as a school boy. I was there for four years and it was an incredible club, really ahead of its time in those days. Lee Powell was a member of the first team squad in those days and later on became my boss at Swindon so I have a lot of ties there, it was a brilliant football club.

“We want to be in a game. Norwich are going to be looking to secure their play-off position, Huddersfield were fighting to avoid relegation and that suited us well. We know the challenge is going to be very tough. We have to keep trying to improve our performances.

“This will be the biggest test that we’ve faced in recent weeks. We’re on the back of three wins, three clean sheets, eight goals scored, last two games, we didn’t face a shot on target against us.

“Watching the players, you can see the team are playing in a good way.”