Shropshire Star

Shrewsbury v Oxford preview: How resilient Ro-Shaun Williams put nightmare Anfield finale to bed

Scoring an own goal at the Kop End at a packed-out Anfield might have been a decisive blow for those of a lesser character.

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But not Ro-Shaun Williams, Shrewsbury Town’s determined young defender who was quick to overcome his FA Cup nightmare.

Williams, signed from boyhood club Manchester United just over 13 months ago, will make his 50th appearance for Town if selected by Sam Ricketts for the visit of in-form Oxford tomorrow.

The centre-half returned to the Town side at right-back last weekend after two matches on the bench.

Days after his header beat Max O’Leary at Anfield in late January, Williams made fun of himself online, saying his career goal tally is at minus one (he is yet to score for Shrewsbury).

Perhaps that self-deprecating manner is Williams’ way of coping, and overcoming, adversity. He said: “After the game I was massively disappointed.

“As a team we could’ve gone for it more, we let ourselves down, we let the fans down, they were brilliant in that stadium.

“But, for me, I was a bit upset with the goal. We had a day off the next day and Thursday was a new day and then we had a game Saturday.

“With football and anything in life you always get new opportunities, so it went out my mind quickly.

“I had to get over it. There’s no point dwelling on it. You’ve got to go again. It was only one game.

“You’ve got to stay level-headed, you’ve got to deal with adversity, ups and downs. Life’s not easy, it’s meant to be hard.

“The same with football, you’ve got to deal with it and get over it.

“That’s what I did, just left it. I’m probably going to score a few more own goals in my career!”

A half-century of appearances in 14 months in the first senior football of his career is some going for the 21-year-old.

Williams has no fear, when asked how he will go about dealing with Oxford’s star men, he replies ‘they’re not world beaters’, and backs Shrewsbury to do their job.

The U’s have been patchy this season. A poor start, a long unbeaten run, a new year collapse but four wins on the spin have them up in seventh.

The Mancunian does not hide his disappointment in Town’s campaign in general.

“Around Christmas time I was more focused on the league (table),” he said. “We’ve probably let ourselves and the manager down a lot with the way we’ve slipped off recently.

“We know we should be higher up in the league.

“It’s not been a great season, there’s not been many teams that standout. We definitely should be higher in the league and that’s when I take more notice of it.

“Now I just concentrate on game to game, improving.”

Perhaps the most telling line of Williams’ interview comes when asked about clocking up 50 games.

He smiled: “I am happy with that, but to have a proper career you have to get to 500 games, so I have 450 more to go. This is only the start for me.”