Siege mentality will help us, admits Wigan Athletic star

With 90 minutes of it remaining – and a do-or-die showdown against Fulham – it’s not quite time to sit back and reflect just yet.

But having experienced more inside the last three weeks than some players do in their whole careers, the 23-year-old remains fully motivated to end on a high.

“From being safe with a few games to go, to not knowing what’s going on, it’s obviously been difficult for everyone,” he told the Wigan Observer.

“But we’ve spoken in the dressing room about what’s happening outside is nothing to do with us.

“We’ve just got to focus on what we can control, and that’s what happens on the pitch.

“And since the start of 2020, we’ve been brilliant, as good as anyone in the Championship.

"We’ve just got to keep focusing on that, and believing in ourselves to get the job done.

"It’s a siege mentality we’ve got now, and I suppose that’s helped us in some ways.

“To be fair, we’ve never needed an extra focus, and since lockdown we were doing a good job of staying up anyway.

"But this has given us extra drive to make sure we keep this club in the Championship.”

While the spirit in the dressing room remained high even during the dark days in the first half of the campaign, it’s really come to the fore in recent weeks during real adversity.

“When we’ve held our team meetings, you can feel the spirit and the togetherness, and wanting to get this done,” Williams recognised.

“Everyone is so determined to do their best for this club, because this club’s been very good for me and for the rest of the lads.

“The fans have been great, the staff have been great, and as players we want to get the job done to pay them back for their support.

“We’ll be leaving everything we’ve got out there on the pitch, doing it all for the town and the club and the people.”

Latics have the bonus of home comforts for the visit of Fulham, who know an away win could secure them an unlikely automatic promotion spot.

And while there’ll be no fans in attendance, Williams says it is a big advantage to be at the DW.

“We all know how good our record is at the DW, and we’re confident playing against anyone there,” he added.

“Obviously we won’t have the fans with us on Wednesday, but they’ll still be familiar surroundings.

"It’s the home comforts, your own changing room, you know every blade of grass, staying at home the night before.

“Fulham are a top side, but I’m sure they’ll respect us with the record we have here.”