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MJ Williams got a couple of days to brush up on his centre-half skills before Oxford – but now he’s ready for a proper test!
Back in central defence for the first time since his days at Rochdale, the Liverpudlian was part of a stubborn second-half display at the Kassam Stadium on Saturday, which underlined just how hard Wanderers are having to work to stay in the promotion shake-up.
Williams had not started a league game since December, after which he underwent a minor clean-up operation on his knee, making his return off the bench in the Papa Johns Trophy final triumph at Wembley.
Hot on the heels of the weekend win, another away game, against a side which has proved somewhat of a bogey team for Bolton in recent years at the Pirelli Stadium.
Last season’s 3-1 defeat, courtesy of three goals in seven first-half minutes, was symptomatic of Bolton’s much-discussed problems against direct football.
Williams will most likely be at the heart of the action tonight, and he believes the Whites have a score to settle.
“We know what is coming – they are a hard-working team, there will be a lot of long balls and it is a tough place to play,” he told The Bolton News. “It is a challenge, but I think we have come a long way since last season and we have to prove it.
“The early goals killed us last season, so we have to be ready for that fast start. We have to stand up to it.
“I have watched their goals against Sheffield Wednesday from the weekend, and we do a lot of work on that sort of stuff.
“They have had some good results recently, so we have to be up for it, but we also want to play our game as well. We can’t let them turn it into a game they want.
“As much as we defended well at the weekend, we have to take the game to them on the ball.”
Williams’ last game as a central defender came for Rochdale in January 2020, somewhat ironically against a Bolton team then managed by Keith Hill.
He had limited time to prepare himself before Oxford, yet after the second-half onslaught Wanderers were placed under, all his old skills quickly came flooding back.
He said: “I had a couple of days after the news about Luke getting injured, I came into training and the gaffer was like ‘are you ready to play centre-half?’ “I had a bit of time to go over how we play out, defensively how we’re setting up, and I was ready to go.
“I was pleased how it went in the end. We’re not used to that, not seeing much of the ball, but we work on defending a lot. We didn’t want to be camped in but when it happened we fought for each other and I thought it was a really good defensive display in the end.”
Wanderers start the day in fifth spot, with the three clubs below them – Peterborough United, Derby County and Wycombe – all playing away from home against Accrington, Exeter City and Cambridge United, respectively.
Ian Evatt is down to his last 17 fit senior players but knows that a positive result at Burton could significantly reduce the pressure to push some into action ahead of schedule.
As part of the cavalry, Williams is confident the rest of the squad can cope.
“We’re in a good position, it’s just about the next game and focus on getting the results,” he said.
“We have lost a few players but the squad is big enough, we have some top players and we feel like we can stand up to it.
“I think we can finish this season well.”
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