Jonny Williams has arrived back at Town with the memory of his part in Wales’ exploits at Euro 2016 still very much alive.
While fans all around the continent may have been stunned by Chris Coleman’s men reaching the last four of the tournament, where they were beaten by eventual champions Portugal, Williams has revealed that the players were confident they could make a real impact in France.
He explained: "After winning our qualifying group I think we really believed we could progress.
"It almost felt before the Belgium game that we were going to accept getting to the quarter-finals and losing to a team of that calibre but we carried on and went again. We played out of our skins that night and found ourselves in the semi-final.
"We had some tough games along the way — in fact England probably gave us our toughest game of the entire tournament even though they didn’t do so well themselves. I still think they were our toughest opponents.
"We responded well in the game against Russia, played them off the park and beat them 3-0, and I think teams will take us a bit more seriously after seeing how well we can play.
"It was an absolute joy to watch the lads beat Belgium, probably one of the best performances I’ve ever seen from Wales and I’ve been watching them since I was a young kid.
"I nearly got on at the end but we brought on big Ginge [James Collins] to shore it up and make sure we saw the game out.
"It was an amazing experience. I was on loan at Nottingham Forest and MK Dons last season, keeping myself fit in order to put myself in the frame for Chris Coleman to pick me for the 23-man squad.
"That was my main aim so to start the first game in the Euros was a massive bonus and also be involved in our first goal of the tournament, when I won the freekick for Gareth Bale to score.
"That was a great achievement and then to be involved in the semi-final of a major international tournament was a fantastic experience. It was probably the highlight of my career — no, definitely the highlight of my career!”
Having enjoyed the experience so much Williams would like to go one step better and represent his country in the final stages of the World Cup to be hosted by Russia in 2018.
He added: "I think we’ve got a real chance in our qualifying group for the World Cup in two years’ time.
"It’s a tough one with the likes of Austria, Serbia and the Republic of Ireland in there with Georgia and Moldova but if we can keep our best players fit throughout the campaign, like we did for the Euros, I think we’ve got a real chance of topping the group.
"But even if we finish in one of the play-off spots it will be a great achievement. Teams will be taking us more seriously, of course, so it will definitely be interesting.”