Williams confident of realising Australian ambitions with Portsmouth

Australian attacker Ryan Williams is confident that he can make progress in his international career while plying his trade with Portsmouth. The 25-year-old has been one of the consistent performers in the past two seasons with Rotherham United and that earned him a debut for the Socceroos during a friendly against South Korea last month.

In a report covered by Portsmouth.co.uk, Williams has said that he can maintain a regular role with the national side despite opting to drop to League One with Portsmouth this summer, he told: “Representing my country is something I’ve wanted for a long time, now I’ve managed to do it. I spoke to the Australian manager who told me that as long as I am fit, playing and playing well then I’ll be in contention.

“In the past I was with the younger Australian age groups and just when I was making ground got injured.I’m looking for this to be my best season for where I am now as a player. I think I’ve progressed a lot in the last few years, just from being available, training every day and being available every week. I’ve been injury-free for three seasons now.”

Williams made a total of 88 appearances for Rotherham during the past two seasons whereby he contributed five goals. With the club being relegated to League One, he has chosen to link up with Portsmouth, who are regarded as one of the favourites to seal promotion to the Championship next season.

Pompey were the dominant side during the first half of the previous campaign and they found themselves occupying the top position for 19 straight matchdays. However, they could not sustain the form with a run of eight successive winless matches and that meant that they missed out on the top-two automatic promotion places despite consistent during the final two months of the season. Portsmouth ultimately failed to seal promotion after bowing out to Sunderland at the semi-final stage of the play-offs.