Williams in the dark on Glovers reception (From The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald)

SWINDON TOWN: Williams in the dark on Glovers reception

6:00am Tuesday 19th March 2013 in Sport By Sam Morshead

ANDY Williams is unsure how the Yeovil crowd will treat him upon his return to Huish Park, but he has vowed not to let their jeers or cheers affect his performance for Swindon Town.

The Robins striker will go back to his old club for the first time tonight following his summer switch to the County Ground, with his new side just one place higher in the League One table than the team he left in July.

Williams doesn’t expect the most gracious of receptions from the Glovers’ fans, but he is confident he will keep his head if he is greeted with either rapturous applause or a cacophony of boos.

“I’ve genuinely got no idea (what the reception will be). They brought only a few hundred here so it was quite difficult to gauge but unless you’ve spent a lot of years at a club and done well and been successful you very rarely get a decent reception these days,” he said.

“I think any old player who goes back to an old club tends to get not a great reception, but it’s not going to be too bad and hopefully I won’t let it affect my performance. It’s quite easy to do, you don’t tend to hear the fans when you’re playing.

“Everyone’s entitled to their opinion and, as Yeovil fans, possibly they would have liked to have seen me stay at the time. I think they’ve moved on from that and they’ve got a couple of good strikers now, it doesn’t look like they’re particularly missing me either.”

Williams praised the work of his former manager Gary Johnson at Huish Park, suggesting Yeovil may consider a permanent tribute to their most successful manager in the near future.

“He’s done well in his second spell at the club and he did particularly well in his first spell,” he said. “I don’t know if he’s got a statue outside the ground just yet but I’m sure they’ll be thinking about it.

“It’ll be interesting to see how he continues and how they deal with the end of the season. He’s done brilliantly for a club of that size so far this season and I think he knows the club inside out.”

The 26-year-old has netted 12 times for Town this term, a considerable way off his own personal goalscoring target for the campaign, but he will be hoping to register for the third time in four matches this evening.

Williams was on the scoresheet in the 4-1 victory over Yeovil at the County Ground in November, but he expects a tougher test this time around.

“It’ll be a good game away at Yeovil, they’re a good side doing well at the moment and it will be a tough challenge. If they win they go above us so obviously it’s important not to lose that game,” he said.

“I had a great two years there. I went there on a bit of a low in my career and Terry Skiverton and the gang helped me out and put me back on track.

“I managed to get a few goals in my first season and doubled it in my second season, so it was nice to get back to playing football again regularly and enjoying my football. I have a lot to be thankful for to a lot of people at the club.

“Although a lot of people outside the place might not believe that they’re up there, a lot of people at Yeovil will certainly know why they’re up there and what they’re capable of. We’ve got to be wary of that on Tuesday.

“If you talk to anyone at Yeovil I think a lot of them will not be surprised that they’re up there and they’ll stay up there and get something from the end of the season.

“Looking inwards it’s a bit strange to see it with things like their budget and fanbase, which is nothing like a lot of the clubs up the top of the league.”