Joining Sunderland Will be a massive opportunity, says Jonny
NEW Sunderland winger Jonny Williams feels he has joined a ‘massive club’ and is confident he can ‘hurt’ opposition defences.
The Welsh international has arrived at the Stadium of Light on a seasonlong loan deal from Crystal Palace after signing a two-year contract extension at Selhurst Park.
The 23-year-old arrives armed with masses of Championship experience and was part of the Eagles’ squad which won promotion in 2013.
He has also taken in loan spells with Ipswich, MK Dons and Nottingham Forest in the division, but he believes he has joined a club in Sunderland which can ‘achieve something special’. Williams said: “I am delighted to be here.
“It is a massive club and a massive opportunity for myself to achieve something special here and put in some good performances.
“It is an exciting move for myself to work with the manager and the assistant.
“I think they will get the best out of me and play me in positions where I can hurt the opposition.”
He added: “Hopefully I can get a run of games under my belt and put in performances for this club.
“It is a massive club and they should be fighting for promotion and that is why I am here.
“It is what it is and I am hoping the stadium can be a fortress and an intimidating place for other teams to come.”
Williams is confident he can make it at Palace in the long term but accepts he needs another loan move for guaranteed game time.
Nonetheless, he is confident he can produce his best football at Sunderland, given the number of games the Black Cats will play.
He said: “The Championship has so many games.
“I managed to achieve something special with Palace by going up through the play-offs and hopefully we can do something similar here.
“I am excited to be playing week in and week out, getting back to my best and hopefully that will help me with my international career as well.”
After signing on the dotted line, Williams made the seven-hour journey to Cardiff to join up with the Wales squad. Williams is part of the squad which faces a crucial World Cup qualifier against Austria today and admits he was grateful to boss Chris Coleman for allowing him to complete his move to Sunderland.
He added: “We have a big game at the weekend but the gaffer let me leave early to come and get this done so it was great to have the manager on board supporting me.”