Jonny Williams admits he had doubts about his future in the game after leaving Crystal Palace following a 17-year stay.
The creative attacker, part of Rob Page's Wales World Cup squad, has been plagued by injuries during the course of his career and left the Selhurst Park outfit -who he joined as a nine-year-old - in 2019.
He had been sent out on loan to clubs including Ipswich, Nottingham Forest, MK Dons and Sunderland before eventually signing a permanent deal with Charlton.
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Williams helped Charlton gain promotion from League One but was once again struck down by injury and joined Cardiff City midway through the 2020/21 campaign. However, his time with the Bluebirds did not go according to plan on a personal level as he made just nine appearances for the club, only one of which was a start.
He was released just months after moving to south Wales and Williams admits he struggled to come to terms with his situation.
“Yeah potentially I did have doubts," he said of his struggles. “My head was a bit all over the place, I was a free agent.
“I had signed for Cardiff and was there for a while. I didn’t play as many games as I would have liked to.
“Mainly because the team went on about an eight-game winning streak which was great. They just missed out on the play-offs at the end and me personally I didn’t really get the chance to show what I can do.
“I felt low at the time and Sunderland was tough. I didn’t get kept on by Cardiff and was out of contract."
Williams joined Swindon in the summer of 2021 and came into the World Cup as the top scorer of those in Wales' 26-man squad this season.
Such has been his run of form, Williams was nominated for the October League Two Player of the Month award, and the Welshman admits that, while he had concerns about dropping down the football pyramid, their style was perfectly suited to his ideals.
“I was thinking whether I wanted to be abroad or stay in England. Ben Garner my coach at Palace I had over the years called me," he added.
“He was the manager at Swindon and liked to play passing football. He said: 'I think you are probably not going to drop to this level but I would love to have you here to get your career back on track and get you playing regularly'.
“I thought about it for two or three weeks because I wasn’t sure I wanted to drop that low. I felt I could still play higher up but I have enjoyed it.
“And when you look back on your career you just want to make sure you have enjoyed it as much as you can. Before that I don’t think I could say I had done that.
“I am trying to play catch up a little bit and trying to stay fit as much as I can. To be here now at World Cup is a bit surreal."
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