The road of late for U.S. Men’s National Team midfielder Danny Williams has been a tough one to say the least. With Huddersfield Town showing zero signs of consistency, the Terries midfielder is trying to help his team get back to form and rise up the English Premier League table.

However, Saturday’s 1-0 defeat at Arsenal did have a bright spot as Williams made his first league start since March 2018. He played 70 minutes in the defeat at the Emirates, while also helping his team frustrate an in-form Gunners squad for most of the match.

“It’s frustrating because we gave them a good game. Our game plan was to press them high and I think especially in the first half we did that very well,” Williams said. “Second half we got a bit tired because of all the work we put in during the first half, but the fans of Arsenal got frustrated and stuff, so we thought ok, there’s something in this today.”

“Unfortunately, in the 85th minute they scored 1-0 and obviously, the quality they have they kept playing it down, so well done to them, but we can be proud of our performance today. Everyone can see the progress we are doing, especially compared to last season. Against Liverpool, Tottenham, we’ve given them all a good game, so like I said we can be proud of what we did today. The result was unfortunate, but I think we can be happy with the performance.”

A pair of injury setbacks has seen Williams only play 84 minutes in league play this campaign, while also earning a start in an August League Cup defeat at Stoke City. After a stellar campaign with Reading in 2016-17, the 29-year-old has tried to retrieve that form with Huddersfield Town.

The club currently sits in 18th, with 10 points through their opening 16 matches. After 19 losses a year ago, Huddersfield has already suffered defeat ten times in 2018-19, something that will need to change if the Terriers want to remain in the Premier League next season.

Meanwhile for Williams, the ability to get the start on Saturday should do wonders for his confidence as he aims for a consistent spot now in Wagner’s starting XI.

“It felt amazing to be on the pitch. Everyone who knows me knows I love this game so much and it was emotional to be honest because I put a lot of hard work in after my injury,” Williams said. “I was close to coming back earlier, but then my knee swelled up, which was more frustrating, so it took me another month to recover. I was so happy today that I could be on the pitch and could do what I love most, being on the pitch and playing football.”

After a trio of consecutive defeats, the Terriers return to the John Smith Stadium on Dec. 15th against Newcastle United. They round out the month with a home date against Southampton on Dec. 22nd before road trips to Manchester United and Fulham during the festive period.