Carl Rushworth embracing style of play under Luke Williams

Goalkeeper Carl Rushworth believes he can thrive under Luke Williams, and is already enjoying the new challenges the head coach is setting him.

The young shot-stopper has had an impressive campaign in between the sticks since joining on loan from Brighton and Hove Albion in the summer, and ranks among the best in the league in his position for goals prevented.

But the 23-year-old is ready to embrace a different side of the game, as Williams looks to implement his possession-based style by working on the fine details of the gameplan.

It requires the keeper to be comfortable and confident playing out from the back under pressure, something which closely matches the style of Rushworth’s parent club, and the young keeper is looking forward to what he believes will an important time in his progression.

“I’ve loved the last couple of weeks under the new manager,” he said.

“He goes into so much detail with me personally. He says ‘these are the positions I want you to take up, these are the options for you’, then it’s down to me to make the right decision.

“But I love that, I love the detail because it’s like the detail I get back at my parent club. It’s perfect for me to use the end of the season to kick on with that and learn as much as possible before I go back to Brighton at the end of the season.

“It’s about getting comfortable playing under pressure like that. It’s a big change and it can be uncomfortable at the start, and you saw that at Birmingham. There were spells where it was uncomfortable for us, but it’s only been two weeks and there’s only so much the gaffer and the staff can do in that short space of time.

“There’re tough games coming up, but if we can get the work in on the training ground I think we’ll start looking like a really good team.”