Swindon Town

LUKE Williams says that his players will enjoy the freedom of taking to the field without any pressure on their shoulders when they face Shrewsbury at SN1 on Sunday (12.30pm KO).

With both sides recently confirming their places in League 1 next season, the Head Coach says that Sunday’s game gives his players the perfect opportunity to showcase what they can do.

“The players enjoy playing football and it’s a good environment to play football in,” he said. “Everything’s set up to help us move the ball quickly and to enjoy the game so I think the Swindon players are motivated to play football because they enjoy playing football I expect a good performance from us.

“There is a bit more freedom. It comes down to how much you enjoy playing football and your own character. If there’s nothing to stop you expressing yourself then a player who really enjoys his work can go and show energy and enthusiasm.

“Something new that I’ve learnt is that you work under a huge amount of pressure in almost every game of the season because there’s something on it. Then all of a sudden when that’s taken away you feel a bit empty and that’s a strange feeling but every game there is something that we need to take away from it and this game is just an opportunity to see what players can do when there’s no pressure on their shoulders. We absolutely need the fans and we’re extremely grateful - I can assure you - that people come to watch us and support us.”

He added: “That is one thing that does give me sleepless nights and gives me a huge amount of stress is my concern over performance. The key to everything is to really try to increase performance all the time and to try to see if you can hit peaks and get the very most out of every player we have here.”