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Rushall Olympic praise Aaron Williams' rise to stardom

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Rushall Olympic have hailed the rise of striker Aaron Williams after he went from playing for free to winning an England call-up. more

The 21-year-old, from West Bromwich, has been called up for England C Under-21s just months after he turned up at Dales Lane offering to play for free to win a place in Richard Sneekes' team.

He could now line-up for the under-21s branch of the England semi-professional side in their friendly against Ireland in Galway on June 1.

Pics assistant boss Steve Hinks said: "He is really hard-working and he has a fantastic attitude.

"Everything good you would want in a footballer, Aaron has it.

"It is absolutely fantastic for the club to see him called up, and it's obviously fantastic for Aaron.

"From our perspective, he's worked hard and we're delighted for him.

"When you look at the squad, most of the players are from Conference clubs so for him to have a place is great for him and for us."

Williams started his career as a trainee at Walsall and played for non-league clubs including AFC Telford United and Worcester City before arriving at Rushall at the start of the season.

He played most of his early career as winger but was converted to a central striker by Pics manager Richard Sneekes and responded with 28 goals this season.

Hinks said: "He has probably missed more chances than he's scored. How crazy is that when you think of how many goals he's got?

"But we keep telling him not to worry about that and he doesn't.

"It's when you stop getting the chances that you have to worry.

"You only have to watch him to know he's a centre forward.

"He holds the ball up like a striker and he makes runs that strikers make, so it was natural for us to put him there."