Former Crystal Palace defender Danny Gabbidon has backed midfielder Jonny Williams to be a success at Selhurst Park and says that Alan Pardew is the right man to get the best out of the Welshman.
Williams is currently on loan at Championship side Nottingham Forest, but Gabbidon feels that his fellow countryman still has a future at Crystal Palace and explained why he thinks Williams is such a good player.
Jonny has been really unlucky with injuries. He is such a quick and nippy player that tackles on him can come a bit late and he comes off worse. But he has the talent and attitude to succeed at Palace. He did really well for Forest against Derby last week.
He needs to play week in week out to get back to his best and hopefully his injury problems are behind him now. He is still young and growing.
Gabbidon, who spent two seasons at Palace between 2012 and 2014, says that while some managers doubt Williams due to his slight stature, Pardew picks players based on ability, not size.
Hopefully, Jonny will come back [from loan] raring to go. Some managers might see him as too small but Pardew judges players on their ability.
He just needs a manager that believes in him and gives him that chance – Alan Pardew can be the right man. He was my manager at West Ham and he was never frightened of giving young players a chance. He is not scared to leave out an established player if a youngster is performing better.
With Wales having qualified for Euro 2016 this summer, there is a place in the squad up for grabs, and Gabbidon thinks Williams is very much in contention if he can continue to impress while on loan at Forest.
With the Euros coming up, there is no reason he can’t get into the Wales side. Chris Coleman is a big fan of him. He’s putting himself back on the map.
Gabbidon also spoke about what the future could hold for his former club, and he thinks that European qualification is a possibility.
Palace have the quality to qualify for Europe. Alan has changed the mindset at the club so the players are not thinking about just staying up anymore. He makes them believe they can take on the big boys and you have seen that this season with them getting results against Chelsea, Man United and Liverpool.
There was a great core spirit when I was at the club. The players still there are keeping that alive. Pardew has added more quality to that and taken them a step further without losing that spirit. They are solid at the back with pace out wide and quality in the middle.
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