Williams: Dropped Points Will Make Us Stronger

Ashley Williams says the dropped points recently will make the team stronger and more together as a squad.

The Welsh international defender was disappointed, as were the rest of the players, manager and fans when we lost points recently at home to Newcastle United on Saturday and away at Plymouth Argyle on Tuesday. We missed out on victories after conceding 87 minute equalisers.

But Ashley Williams says it'll benefit us in the long run and make us stronger:

'The gaffer summed it up when he said on Tuesday and last Saturday, 'this can only make us stronger','

'We're all together a little bit more, we're in the trenches a little bit and it'll make us stronger as a team.

'We only got one point from Plymouth, but the frustrating thing is we don't feel it's because of anything we've done.

'We got our goal, we defended like men and then the lead got taken away from us.'

I suppose a lot of people say you show your real quality in how you react to disappointing results like these, and hopefully we can show the perfect reaction tomorrow afternoon when we face an in-form Derby County side at Pride Park.

'I think Plymouth should concede that in the second half, the referee spoilt the game,' said Williams. 'I don't know what he was thinking because you watch 100 penalties and goalkeepers come off their line.

'I'm sure if every penalty decision where the goalkeeper strayed off the line got pulled up, they wouldn't do it.

'Dorus has pulled off two brilliant saves and the second one went straight back to their player. That's something we couldn't do anything about.'

'It wasn't just the second penalty. The number of times he gave them a foul was just embarrassing.

'Any kind of decision he was giving to them and it seemed like we were going to play until they scored a goal.

'But their players were happy with a draw at home, so maybe it shows how far we've come.'

Click here to join in the debate on the club forum.