West Brom academy prospect hopeful debut is start of things to come
Albion prospect Alex Williams hopes Tuesday night's senior debut against Derby is the start of things to come.
The 20-year-old right-back is well thought of among the club's youth ranks and was given the nod to replace the suspended Darnell Furlong in the EFL Cup first round penalty defeat at The Hawthorns.
Wales youth international Williams, who hails from Warwick, only discovered from boss Ryan Mason he was starting for a professional debut a few hours ahead of kick-off in the team meeting.
He put in an assured display throughout on the right side of the Baggies' back four. Williams endeared himself to the home fans with a couple of crunching early challenges and was comfortable in possession with a willingness to venture forward in support of fellow graduate Tom Fellows.
"It was just a class experience being a young player," Williams told BBC Radio WM. "Hopefully I'll get a few more opportunities this season but this is definitely a night I'll look back on in my career where hopefully things started going right.
"I will definitely be taking into further games, whether it be here or out on loan with more men's games.
"It (learning of a start) was quite a short turnaround but as soon as you hear it you get in game mode and have a good warm up. It makes me so focused and I think I took the positive energy from fans.
"It doesn't give you a lot of time to get nervous! Of course there are nerves but it's a good mix. I wanted to get out there, get on the ball."
Williams joined the club aged 11 and sampled a first experience of senior football with two loan stints at step three non-league outfit Stratford Town last term, where he impressed.
His progress was rewarded this summer with a new one-year contract - and another 12 months in the club's favour - as well as a place on the pre-season training camp in Austria.
The youngster added: "You get experience from everywhere and that was my first taste of men's football and the loan definitely helped me in terms of the physicality.
"Having pre-season with the first team helped me get up to speed and then I was just waiting for the opportunity. When I heard I was starting I was buzzing. You have to make the most of the opportunities because you don't know when they will come around."
