Luke Williams eyeing mix of creativity and work rate

Head coach Luke Williams admits Coventry City boss Mark Robins was one of his idols as a youngster, but that won’t stop him and Swansea City looking to put an early dent in the Sky Blues’ Championship aspirations this afternoon.

Williams was on the books of Norwich City as a youngster, with Robins playing as a striker for the Canaries following his move from Manchester United.

And the Swans boss continues to be an admirer of the work Robins has done at the CBS Arena, as he looks for his own side to build on their encouraging showing in victory over the Canaries last time out.

“I was at Norwich as a schoolboy, and I used to sit in the stand behind the goal for games and Mark was a brilliant player,” said Williams.

“The last time we faced each other as coaches, I told him I used to get in my seat early for the warm-up because I was obsessed with everything – as you are at the age of 12 or 13 – and I remember he used to come out and rabona the ball and try and score from near the halfway line.

“I used to love watching that, that was a great team to watch, Mark was a great player and is a great coach.

“He has done an incredible job, he never gets too high or too low, he is incredibly consistent and his teams are always organised but exciting.

“He has been there for a number of years, he has had to rebuild but he has been able to do that and still have consistent outputs.

“I look up to him and his longevity in the game, and I have a lot of respect for him, but obviously we will go there wanting to win.

“We want a team to play forward with creativity and movement, which is great, but we also want to see the players continue to be tearing back, making tackles and putting their bodies on the line.”