'It feels like I’m back home' - Former Northampton Town and MK Dons midfielder delighted to be back at Crawley Town

The 24-year-old became Reds’ fifth signing of the summer on Friday, and returns to the Broadfield Stadium after just after just five months at MK Dons.

Williams played 57 times during his first spell at the club and was sold to MK Dons in the January transfer window. He only made 10 appearances for the Dons, before dropping out of favour once Scott Lindsey had been parted ways with the club.

“I’m delighted,” said Williams before joining the team on their pre-season tour of Spain on Monday. “I drove down today, and it feels like I’m back home so I’m really happy.”

Williams was known for his tough tackling as well as playing with a lot of strapping on his knee, but that might not be the case this season, after having surgery this off season. He said: “I had it about 12 weeks ago, and I’ve started running now. No pain, which I haven’t had for like two years, so I’m feeling really good, ready.”

When asked about the connection he has with the backroom staff as well as a few of the players, he said: “I come back today and a few of the boys are here doing whatever they’re doing, and it just felt like when I was here from before. It didn’t feel like I had been away, and yeah it makes me happy.

“When you’re happy, you play your best football, I think, I believe. And the people that are here, they believe in me, and I believe in them, and I think that only results in good things.”

With the Reds not being as big a club as the likes of MK Dons, Williams is looking forward to the team spirit that the club has. “I’ve seen it first hand,” he said. “I mean, you can have all the resources in the world, and it doesn’t work out. But like we had here before, we had heart and people that were really hungry to win. We’re probably going to be underdogs again. I’m happy with that, because I think it brings the group together and it makes people work harder.”

Williams was a fan favourite in this last stint at the club, and he looks forward to renewing that relationship. He said: “The fans we have here are great. They’re amazing. They’re the best fans I’ve played in front of, even through a few bad periods that we’ve had, when Scott left and things started going a bit rocky, I think they stuck with us.

“Hopefully we can rediscover the form we had the season before and do what we did before. We’ll do as much as we can, and I will definitely do as much as I can to make sure they come here and enjoy watching us play.”