Williams praise for Gradi

Williams was impressed with Gradi

Sunderland defender Darren Williams is looking forward to meeting up with Crewe boss Dario Gradi this weekend.

Williams spent a week training with Crewe before he left York for the Black Cats in 1996 and is full of praise for Gradi's methods.

"I think it's just his whole philosophy of the game," Williams told BBC Radio Newcastle.

"When I trained down there, I trained for the week and everything was based on attacking.

"But it was based on getting the ball down and playing from the back and getting at people which we've seen from some of the top sides in the country."

Sunderland are likely to be without influential centre-half Gary Breen for the game due to a knee injury.

"I've been working quite hard but we're literally just taking it day by day at this stage," he said.

"Every day seems to improve that bit better but I can't really say any predictions when I'll be back."

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