Grayson: Players Have No Fear!

The play-off semi final away leg against MKDons is nearly upon us and with one day to go, Simon Grayson has expressed what he see's from his squad every single day through training sessions. This is what the Town boss had to say;

"I think we have gained some good momentum over the last three games; we have won two and drawn one and I think shown glimpses of how we want to play.

We have got players returning from injury who have been unavailable for a while, so we are feeling good. Form can go out of the window in the Play-Offs, but we are approaching the games in a positive manner.

The players need to learn from the experiences that they have gone through before in these sorts of occasions. You can learn from successes and failures in semi-finals and it is important that the players take on board what has gone on before. Sometimes though, the raw naivety of players can help them grasp the opportunity as they won't be worrying about the bigger picture.

The players haven't shown any fear over the last week; our training sessions have been very positive. All the supporters that I have spoken to are looking forward to the two games. Everyone knows anything can happen - that is the nature of the Play-Offs - but we need to grasp the opportunity and have no regrets.

I have not been involved in a game against MK Dons this season, but I have seen them play against Carlisle and also watched DVDs and read reports. On paper it has got the ingredients of being a good contest. They are a good footballing team who like to play the ball out through the defence and up to the strikers. We know what to expect from them and they will know what to expect from us from the two tight games earlier in the season.

To still be in the tie after the first leg is our main objective; ideally a victory would be nice, but even that doesn't give you the guarantee of winning over the two legs. We are not going down to stadiummk to be negative or nick a draw though - we will be positive.

We need to play the game and not the occasion. The build-up to the game should be no different than normal; you need to approach the game in the same manner as any other game. Individually players don't need to be going out and trying new things and collectively you need to stick to what you are good at."

Simon then went on to talk about his own experiences with the play-offs as both a player and a manger.

"I was a player when they did the first Play-Offs and although that was a different set-up it gives the players something extra to play for. It can end in doom, which I have experienced, but I have also experienced the winning feeling from the Play-Offs. It gives a buzz for the supporters at the end of the season.

In the Play-Offs there haven't been too many games where the tie has been over after the first leg. Even a two goal lead would have you concerned that the other team could score the first goal and get back in the game. If Cardiff had scored the first goal against West Ham in their second leg it could have been a different story."

So Grayson is definitely backing his squad in the play-offs and it sounds like he is going to use both his own and the players experience in the play-offs to get the most out of his team. The first leg will see around 4000 Huddersfield Town fans descend down to Milton Keynes in an effort to bring back a result which the whole club can be proud of.