Dafydd Williams says he is relishing the opportunity of working alongside new head coach Nelson Jardim this season and believes the Portuguese coach will enhance his own coaching journey.
Williams, who was appointed as first team coach at the beginning of last season, will take up a new role as assistant head coach for the 2024-25 campaign.
And while Williams acknowledges that Jardim wants to play a progressive, passing and attacking game, he says the new Exiles boss’ approach is something that really excites him.
“It’s a great opportunity for me personally to be moving up the ladder into becoming assistant head coach,” said Williams, who began his coaching career at Bristol Rovers' Academy.
“I’ve really enjoyed the last 12 months I’ve had here at the football club. This time last year, I was fortunate enough to have had this opportunity come around and I’m looking forward to seeing what this season holds.
“I’ve been really impressed with Nelson since his arrival. He’s come in with big ideas and we’re sort of seeing that come to life on the pitch.
“The way he is in terms of the environment, with the staff and the players, has been really positive which will only help the club develop moving forward.
“Hopefully, throughout the rest of pre-season we’ll see the stuff we’ve been working on get better and better. That’s the aim, and that’s what pre-season is all about.”
The Exiles have made a positive start to their pre-season campaign, winning two of their opening four games, as their preparations continue ahead of the new League Two season.
And Williams has been left impressed with the player’s attitude and commitment over the course of the campaign so far.
“The boys have been working really hard in pre-season,” he added.
“The first few weeks have been purely about the physical output of training sessions, whereas the next few weeks are going to be about the more technical and tactical elements.
“The first four games have allowed us to transform the technical and tactical elements of our training into practice. We’ve seen a few bits in the games so far which have been good, but we’ve seen some bits that we really need to work on as well.
“We’ve got some really good games coming up which will give us the opportunity to keep progressing on and off the field.”