Rhodes: 'I Owe Everything To Huddersfield Town'

Jordan Rhodes returns to The John Smiths Stadium tonight along with Blackburn Rovers to face his old club, Huddersfield Town. Its the first time the Scotland international will have returned to play at the home of the club which made him who is he today. No longer playing in the blue & white stripes of the terriers, Rhodes returns with five goals already under his belt at his new club along with a £8m price tag to live up to. The striker spoke highly of Huddersfield Town today in an interview;

"I owe them everything."

"I think that is quite right in saying. I have a lot of thanks and gratitude towards Ipswich for my foundation in football, but I left at a young age and the Huddersfield chairman, Dean Hoyle, was fantastic. I owe him a great deal, and Lee Clark and Simon Grayson for the help they gave me over the three years."

"I had many a good time there and it was a great way to round it off by getting promoted last year. I think as a man it was time to leave to better myself."

"I learned things at Huddersfield that I would never have got if I had stayed at Ipswich and I feel as if I will learn things at Blackburn that I would not get at either of the first two clubs. I think it is a matter of developing as a player. I still have age on my side and it is a matter of improving and learning for years to come."

One question which has been circulating around both sets of fans ahead of tonight's game is...Will Rhodes celebrate if he scores tonight?

"I would like to think I would not celebrate."

"I would like to pay my due respects to the club and the people that have been faithful to me for those three years. I will try and go in with that mentality. However, if it is a last-minute winner I might get carried away. I don't think any goal celebration is to disrespect the opposition. It is to celebrate the team's achievements."

Rhodes thanked the Town faithful for the way he has been treated over his last three years as a terrier both on & off the field;

"People have just wished me the best and thanked me for what I had done. I think people knew I had to leave in the end just to further myself. There were two or three real heart-felt letters sent to me; that was really special. I will write back to them once my house is all sorted."

"If selected I will try and give it my best shot and remain calm and composed. It is like any other game. I will just treat it as level-headed as I can. I understand if there is a bit of banter towards me, that is understandable. It will be different going back there, but it was inevitable. It was a fixture that was always going to happen when I moved to Blackburn Rovers. It is a fixture I won't treat any differently."

It was revealed by Huddersfield manager Simon Grayson that Rhodes still visits the Town training camp to play snooker etc earlier on this week and the young striker was keen to comment on the close relations which he still has at the club. This included Lee Novak & Alan Lee who both partnered Rhodes upfront last season when Rhodes grabbed a total of 40 goals;

"Lee Novak and Alan Lee are really good friends. I know Alan and his wife Catherine really well and we go out for meals on Saturday nights, even still. Lee and his girlfriend Danielle, we have been out with them many times too, so I know them both well on and off the field. I think both already want my shirt!"

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