YOU can be sure that Ben Williams has the date Saturday, November 8 firmly ringed in his diary.

That is FA Cup first-round day – and likely to be the next game he plays for City. On the flip side, it could also turn out to be the final one before his current short-term deal expires on New Year's Eve.

Such is the way for the experienced stopper brought in to keep Jordan Pickford on his toes.

Williams could rebrand himself as "cup specialist; the man for the knock-out occasion". His involvement so far has consisted of three Capital One Cup outings because City's first-choice was blocked from playing by parent club Sunderland.

It is a strange existence for a player who boasts over 400 games on his CV and captained Hibernian to the Scottish Cup final two seasons ago.

But Williams walked into Valley Parade with his eyes wide open. He knew what he was getting into.

He said: "I was under no illusions when I came here. I'd met the manager beforehand.

"There were a few bits and bobs over the summer that hadn't come to fruition.

"I then spoke to the manager but the window of opportunity had gone in a way because he'd already arranged a loan with Jordan.

"But he asked if I would still come and push him as much as possible, play the cup games and see how I deal with not playing as often as I'd like.

"I've just turned 32, in my prime as a goalkeeper, and it's not something I was looking to do but it's just worked out that way. The current climate in football is not ideal.

"There were a couple of situations that didn't work out for me – like the takeover at Doncaster falling through.

"Initially, I thought there was a chance of playing in the Championship but things change in football.

"You have to be flexible. Squads aren't as large as they used to be and the loan market is utilised to good effect."

Phil Parkinson has admitted he was surprised that City had not faced more competition. He felt the keeper may have been "tarred with the same brush" over Hibernian's demise.

Williams said: "Look in the small programme notes and you'll be described as 'goalkeeper released by Hibs following relegation'. It doesn't sound too good.

"But there wasn't a question of me staying there. I'd already turned down a contract extension.

"It was just unfortunate that the relegation was confirmed in a penalty shoot-out in a play-off that should never have happened."

It was a spectacular fall from grace for one of Scotland's proudest clubs. Hibernian only dropped into the bottom two after the penultimate game, even if the slump had begun much earlier.

Hibs took only four points from their last 13 games – failing to win any.

They still should have survived after rallying to beat Hamilton in the opening play-off, only to implode once more in the Easter Road return and get sunk on penalties.

Terry Butcher's seven-month reign at Easter Road proved disastrous and Williams was clearly unimpressed with his approach.

He said: "It was a slow death, in a way. Things weren't right for a long time when the new management came in.

"They probably came in thinking there was an awful lot of work to do when really it just needed a few tweaks.

"Hibs are a huge club with a fantastic fanbase. We only needed to win one league game in the last five or six (to stay up).

"We were getting beaten 1-0 when all we had to do was win or draw the odd couple of games. Maybe some people felt we were too good to go down.

"Then we won the first leg of the play-off 2-0 away from home on a plastic pitch. But when it came to the big occasions, we found it tough.

"The manager spoke to us all the time, saying that we struggled at home and couldn't handle the crowd. We had quite a young squad and when you tell people that, they start to believe it.

"You could see it in the first ten minutes of that last game – everybody just froze. We tried to hold out as long as we could and even then Hamilton scored in the 93rd minute.

"The whole world changes with relegation. It's the ramifications, like the staff who lose their jobs – they are the people you feel most sorry for."

Williams has noticed the contrasting attitude at Valley Parade and the way Parkinson and his staff treat the City squad.

He said: "You can get great success from man management. As far as tactics go, you'll get so much more out of players if they are treated well and respected.

"It's a two-way thing. If you feel the manager works for you, you work for the manager.

"That works very well here. It's a small, tight-knit group and all the coaching staff work for the players."