STABILITY is the name of the game for Robbie Williams as he tries to resurrect hopes of a hat trick of promotions from League I.

The 24-year-old defender, who went up with Barnsley in 2006 and Blackpool the year after, is halfway through a three-year Town contract.

But he’s totted up only 36 starts – plus four further appearances from the bench – and is waiting to find out the identity of his third manager while at the Galpharm.

Signed by Andy Ritchie, who had been his boss at Barnsley, the left-back arrived in August of last year with a fractured shin, delaying his Town debut until December.

He was a regular for the remainder of the campaign, but like several of his teammates, was in and out of the side under Stan Ternent.

Williams was handed a start as Gerry Murphy began his third stint as caretaker manager with last week’s 4-3 FA Cup first-round defeat by Port Vale.

And the scorer of Town’s third goal in that tie is desperate to stay involved, under both the interim boss and whoever takes over in the long term.

“So far my time at Town has been pretty stop-start,” admitted the Pontefract-based player, who came through the Barnsley youth system.

“Coming here with the injury obviously slowed things down, and because I’d missed out on a proper pre-season, I was playing catch-up last time around.

“This time I had a good summer, and when the first match of the season arrived, I was feeling in good nick.

“I missed out against Stockport on the opening day, but came in for the Carling Cup match against Bradford.

“I scored in that game and thought I did okay, and I stayed in the side until we lost at home to Sheffield United in round two.

“But then Joe Skarz came in, and other than the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy tie at Darlington, that was it for me until Peterborough away.”

Town were thumped 4-0 at London Road, but Williams retained his berth for what turned out to be Ternent’s last game, the 3-2 home win over Crewe a fortnight ago.

Skarz was also included against Vale, with Murphy giving him a new role as sweeper, but Williams believes they are still basically battling for the one position.

“It’s tough because Joe is a great young talent and he has put in some very good performances while I’ve been here,” added Williams.

“For his age, he’s got a lot of first-team experience, and he provides real competition to keep me on my toes.

“We also have Daniel Codman waiting in the wings, so neither of us can afford to be complacent in any way.

“Any professional footballer wants to play as often as possible, but when you’re not involved, you have to stay positive and keep working hard in training.

“I think I’ve done that, and from my point of view, I just want to stay in the side for a decent run and show the supporters what I’m capable of.”

One thing the fans know Williams can do is weigh in with the occasional goal, with the FA Cup effort against Port Vale his fourth for the club.

The latest was a header, with last season’s effort at home to Doncaster a low shot, but the other two (at Brighton last season and in the Carling Cup home win over Bradford in August) were both direct from free-kicks.

“I’ve got plenty of rivals to take them in Gary Roberts, Michael Flynn and Liam Dickinson, but I always fancy myself to put one away,” explained Williams.