"It will be a tough game. They are one of the favourites for the division and have kept together the majority of the players they had in the Premier League. They'll be a massive threat to us, but it's one that we are looking forward to. We want to replicate the performance we produced at Birmingham. The game ranks as one of the toughest games of the season so far. They have got aspirations of bouncing back and achieving promotion to the Premier League. The manager is implementing his own ideas onto the team and has brought in a number of his own players. They are a well organised outfit who possess a lot of leaders; the likes of Kevin Foley, Richard Stearman, Christophe Berra and Roger Johnson have all played in the Premier League."
The terriers will be playing for the first time since heading up to Belfast to play in a testimonial match against the Crusaders. They lost that game 3-2 but Grayson admitted that the game was only a bit of fun & gave the entire team chance to enjoy their football once again before the international break;
"The game in Belfast was a bit of fun and the players didn't go over the top in regards to how many minutes they played. The players had a few days rest as well and then we have had a normal routine of training this week. We needed the international break. We had a few players suffering niggles, so it came at a good time for us. The games come thick and fast in the Championship and it is not just about recharging physically, but also mentally."
On loan striker Jermaine Beckford scored a stunning goal against the Crusaders and Grayson gave fans a quick update on how the striker is feeling at the club ahead of tomorrows game;
"He's got a real spring in his step at the moment. I've never seen him happier in a long time. He's coming in fully committed and is enjoying what he's doing. When you have got the pace and power that he has, it can really unsettle defenders, as he showed against Birmingham when in the first minute he outmuscled Curtis Davies."
Simon Grayson moved on to talk about Oliver Norwood who played a full ninety minutes against Portugal for Northern Ireland midweek. Norwood is almost certain to be in the starting XI on Saturday and Grayson is delighted he has got himself known on the international stage;
"When I spoke to him on Thursday morning he was disappointed that they didn't come away with a win. He will have learned a lot from that game and it is credit to Northern Ireland team for that. He was even more delighted that he managed to get Cristiano Ronaldo's shirt on his 100th appearance!"
Grayson concluded his pre-match interview by updating fans with the fitness levels of both Joel Lynch & Oscar Gobern;
"Joel has trained over the last few days, so we'll assess where he is on Friday. There is a chance he could be in the squad, but more realistically we are looking at Tuesday night if he doesn't suffer a reaction to the physio treatment. We have got to the bottom of the injury now after he had surgery. We have got plenty of competition for places in midfield and have the likes of Scott Arfield and Anton Robinson,who haven't featured much this season, available if and when required."
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