Melbourne City striker David Williams sees signs of improvement after the Hyundai A-League side drew 1-1 with a physical Oldham Athletic in a friendly this weekend.
Williams was on target for John van’t Schip’s tourists in the first half at the Latics’ SportsDirect.com Park.
A ball out of defence found Mate Dugandzic who slipped in Williams to coolly take his chance against the League One outfit.
“A near post finish, I kinda waited till the keeper chose the direction. If you hit the bottom corner you’ve usually got a chance,” Williams told Melbourne City’s website.
Spanish defender Migual Llera equalised for the hosts.
According to Williams, Oldham played a traditional British brand of route-one football which was a different challenge from what they usually see in the Hyundai A-League.
“They’re definitely battlers, they work hard, they’re strong, they’re tough.
“We try to keep the ball a lot, fill the gaps and plenty of movement and they like to play it long.
“It is different to a lot of teams back home…”
After draws with Bury and now Oldham, attention now turns to City’s third game on Wednesday against Championship club Bolton. Wanderers are managed by Dougie Freedman, the former coaching mentor of Tony Popovic when the pair was at Crystal Palace.
“We’re working on things here,” added Williams.
“Players playing in different positions and some of the triallists have done well.
“It’s not all about winning games but having that mentality of winning and not conceding is a good thing.
“And the training facilities are excellent with a lot of good solid work without distractions. And we bond a lot off the park,” said the former North Queensland Fury and Brondby striker.
City are based at parent club Manchester City’s Carrington Training Centre for 17 days in July.
They return to Australia later this month ahead of their Westfield FFA Cup tie with Sydney FC on August 12 in Ballarat.
Williams joked the trip away was difficult for some players.
“Some of the boys are missing their girlfriends!”
