OWAIN FÔN WILLIAMS has revealed that acting on advice from one of his country’s greatest players has helped him on his way to 500 senior appearances.

And the 34-year-old, who reached the impressive milestone playing in Athletic’s Scottish Cup tie at Partick Thistle, insists that he has no intention of stopping any time soon.

Since making his debut for Stockport County 13 years ago, Fôn Williams has embarked on a career that has taken in Rochdale, Tranmere Rovers, Inverness Caledonian Thistle, Hamilton Academical and the Pars, as well as living his dream of playing for Wales.

It’s no surprise that representing his country has been the highlight for the fiercely-proud Welshman, who recalled tips he received from Neville Southall – who was capped 92 times – when setting out on his football journey.

When asked if there was more to come, given the longevity goalkeepers tend to enjoy compared to outfield players, Fôn Williams told Press Sport: “You look at the Premier League, you look at the Champions League, and you look at the goalkeepers that play there. They’re all way in their 30s.

“I think with goalkeeping, it’s not about how quick you run, how quick you turn, how you do what the outfield players do. They’ve got a shorter window where their physique will allow them to do that.

“In goal, it’s a lot different. I don’t know if I’ve told you this story before, but Neville Southall, obviously a Welsh ex-international goalkeeper, and at his time was one of the best in the world playing for Everton, he used to teach me when I was about 17 that about 80-90 per cent of the game will be played in your head.

“At the time, I didn’t know what he meant, but as I played and gained more experience, the penny dropped. I only touched the ball a handful of times in a game but the game is played in my head constantly about situations that might happen, and you’ve got to think these things so you can react quick enough for when it does happen.

“With all that experience, it’s only going to benefit you. Providing your body’s fine, you can go on and and go on and go on.

“I think for a goalkeeper you either play for 90 minutes or you don’t, whereas an outfield player, you might come on for 10 minutes, you might come on for three minutes, you might come on for 60 minutes, but it is totally different. It’s a totally different mind game.

“It’s something I’m delighted to have reached and hopefully get some more games under my belt too.

“All I ever wanted to do was to play football. I didn’t want to be on the bench, I didn’t want to be lower down the pecking order – I wanted to play games.

“I had a few opportunities to have a different path within football, within being a goalkeeper, but I always wanted to play. 500 games. I had a bit of fire in my belly to reach 500 games.

“It was a proud moment for me, and my family as well, because we’ve worked so hard to reach 500 games.”

When asked for a highlight of his career so far, Fôn Williams didn't hesitate when it came to stating it was playing at international level.

"My dream was to play for Wales," he continued.

"I didn’t support a team. I’m from a pocket of Wales where there is no local team. I haven’t got a team like Dunfermline on my doorstep - the nearest team for me would probably be Liverpool, and that is over two and a half hours away, or Wrexham. The only team that I would pretend playing for in my back garden with my brothers was to play for Wales.

"To have done that and to have played for Wales over the age groups that I have done, that was a special one for me, and obviously the icing on the cake was to, not just see my country play in a major tournament (Euro 2016), but to be involved in it."

Although he said that he would love to return to the national fold in future, the keeper's priority is helping Dunfermline up the Championship.

Fôn Williams and his team-mates go to one of his former clubs, Hamilton Academical, this Saturday hoping to register a third successive league win and continue their move away from the bottom end of the table.

"All my energy is going towards this football club and getting this football club to where it wants to be and should be," he added.

"That is all that I am thinking of, all my time and energy goes purely towards that.

"It goes without saying really, every game that we play now is an opportunity to get something from it, get three points. It doesn’t really matter who you are playing against and where they are, we just need the three points.

"We need to have that desire and will to run all over your opponent and steal three points from them.

"That is the nature of the game."