Martyn Williams will be a thorn in England's side this weekend © Getty Images

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Players/Officials: Martin Johnson | Martyn Williams

Tournaments/Tours: Six Nations

Teams: England | Wales

Martin Johnson has paid tribute to Wales openside Martyn Williams as one of the key members of a squad that will be gunning for his England side this weekend at the Millennium Stadium.

Williams led Wales to a 26-13 win over Scotland in their opening Six Nations match in the absence of regular captain Ryan Jones, and may well find himself in possession of the role should Jones fail to recover in time for this weekend's vital game. Wales are also awaiting news on centre Gavin Henson and star wing Shane Williams ahead of the game, with Henson nursing a calf strain and Williams an ankle knock.

Johnson is concerning himself with a player that he knows will take to the field however, and has plenty of praise for 33-year-old Williams.

"Martyn Williams is a very astute player who seems to be getting better with age and needs to be countered by our whole team," he said. "He is a key player for Wales, he is a very good player. I remember him coming on the 2001 Lions tour. He has still got all the skills and mentally he still has the know-how from experience.

"He is a great link man with off-loads and passes. He is very dangerous. From a personal point of view, it will be good to see him. He is a very nice guy. He was talking about retiring after the 2007 World Cup. I am happy to see him playing well and being successful - just not this Saturday afternoon."

Saturday's win at Murrayfield was Williams' first as skipper despite five previous games in the position, and he was pleased to finally break his duck after losses to Scotland, France and Australia in 2003 and Ireland in 2004.

"It has been good to get that monkey off my back," he said. "I am not sure Warren was aware of my record as captain. I don't think he would have asked me if he had known I was none out of five! I was really pleased with the way the boys responded.

"There were a lot of leaders out there with the likes of Stephen (Jones) and Alun-Wyn (Jones), so that made the job easier. I think it is testament to the side that we lost Ryan so late on, and yet it didn't really affect us that much out there on the field.

"Obviously, there was a bit of disruption with him pulling out, but Dafydd Jones came in and had an excellent game. I thought Dafydd was outstanding, his work-rate was huge."

England will no doubt target Wales up-front on Saturday, but Williams believes that Andrew Sheridan, Phil Vickery and co. may find some surprises in the Wales front-row.

"The front five haven't had the credit they deserve over the last 12 months," he said. "Our scrum was so efficient (against Scotland), and the knock-on effect from that is the contact area is easier and that was the crux of it. We were on the front foot and that made it a lot easier for us. The front five provided the platform for us and then we've got the boys behind like Shane and Lee Byrne to finish things off."