Jordan Rhodes Does Not Need To Be Sold

League Ones top goalscorer Jordan Rhodes has been firing on all cylinders this season which has attracted lots of clubs including those in the Championship & Premiership. Having held onto the striker in the January transfer window, the terriers hitman has continued to impress which has seen him earn his first cap for his international team Scotland.

Huddersfield Town stated that he would not be sold in January and amongst various bids around the alleged £4m mark, he remained on the books at Town. Having been rested in the past couple of games under new manager Simon Grayson, Rhodes is set to feature heavily in the play-off campaign for promotion.

Nigel Clibbons, Chief Executive of Huddersfield Town, last night told the BBC this;

"We are in a great position financially. We can sell players when we want to and it's best for the club."

"With Dean Hoyle as chairman we don't have to do anything that we don't wish to, whereas in the past we have maybe been forced a little. Ultimately everyone is a selling club, even Manchester United sold Cristiano Ronaldo, but the important thing is that you sell at the time of your choosing."

A statement of intent from Huddersfield Town saying that Jordan Rhodes shall only be sold if and when Town are ready to do so. Let's hope 36 goal machine Rhodes can continue to add to that tally in the away and home leg matches against MKDons.

Sean Morrison Looking Forward To MKDons

The on loan centre back Sean Morrison says he is just concentrating on the play-offs and getting Huddersfield Town promoted. Morrison is set to make his 20th consecutive appearance for the terriers but his future is still to be decided especially with his parent club, Reading, achieving their own promotion into the Premiership.

He has on numerous times tweeted how much he is loving his time at Huddersfield Town and in Yorkshire itself and here is what the 21 year old had to say to The Examiner;

“It’s impossible to say what will happen and I’m concentrating on the next two matches. I’m really enjoying my time at Huddersfield, and I’m getting games under my belt, which was my objective when I signed."

"Obviously I’m happy for both Reading and Swindon. I’ve got some good friends there so I’m extremely pleased they’ve got promotion. Hopefully I can get a promotion with Town, and that’s the only thing I’m thinking about at the moment.”

Morrison is still under contract with Reading until 2014 but the possibility of him coming to Huddersfield Town on a permanent basis could certainly be on the agenda if the terriers achieve promotion into The Championship this year.

Update On Our Loan Players

A few of our players have spent the majority of their 2011/12 season out on loan at various other clubs to gain experience or to get constant first team football. Nathan Clarke has spent around half of the season at fellow League One contenders Bury, Liam Ridehalgh has featured heavily in Chesterfields campaign this year as well. Other out on loan Huddersfield Town players are Murray Wallace, Jimmy Spencer & Matt Crooks.

Nathan Clarke

The shakers played Clarke 11 times in the loan spell which saw him make his final appearance against Stevenage at the weekend where he was on the receiving end of a 3-0 drubbing. Clarke has definitely enjoyed his time at Bury and it's nice to see the defender getting first team football yet again.

Liam Ridehalgh

Making his 20th appearance at the weekend for Chesterfield, Towns promising youngster has certainly been given the chance to improve and get a feel for League One football. The 3-2 defeat at the weekend saw Ridehalgh play in the un-natural position of centre back.

Jimmy Spencer

Cheltenham are in the play-offs and our striker Jimmy Spencer has helped them get there by contributing 11 goals to the cause. Torquay United are their opponents in the semi finals and it's a chance for Spencer to make a name for himself.

Matt Crooks

Midfielder Crooks has been attracting a lot of attention from ourselves with his performances for our youth squad and his loan side Halifax Town. Although he never featured in either of Halifax Towns play-offs games against Gainsborough, he sure has impressed and looks to be a very promising first team player in the near future.

Nobody knows what the future has in store for any of the loaned out players and wether they shall be Huddersfield Town players next season is still undecided. However, it's great to see talented footballers enjoying their careers at other clubs.

Grayson Delighted With The Win

Simon Grayson expressed how happy he was with the performance against Yeovil Town when he spoke to the official website. This is what he had to say;

"I said before the game that I wasn't too concerned about where we finished, all I was interested in was winning today and finishing on a good note,"

"I am delighted that we have won the game, not too bothered by what happened at MK Dons, but obviously now we have got the second leg at home.I thought we were good today, passed the ball around well with tempo and created some good opportunities. The players knew that the same group of players could be playing at Wembley in three week's time and that they had an opportunity to stay in the team."

Grayson was delighted with how Town played against Yeovil Town

 When speaking about individual performances in today's game against Yeovil, Grayson hinted who he may well be starting in the play-offs;

"The players should be playing for their shirts and looking over their shoulders at the people sat on the bench. Today probably suited us because they played a narrow four man midfield, which allowed Jack Hunt to get forward and exploit that area of the pitch well. Danny Ward was very good and took his goal well. I feel the more Scott Arfield plays, the more comfortable he is becoming in midfield. I have always rated Danny very highly and you can keep telling players how good they are, but they have to believe themselves. He has got undoubted talent and you could see after he got his goal that his confidence grew and he almost got another. There is a lot more to come from Danny."

When questioned about Jordan Rhodes once again sitting on the bench for the majority of the game, Grayson backed up his decision as well as praising both Novak & Higginbotham who have been partnering each other in the last couple of matches;

"We wanted to give Jordan another rest and play for him the final twenty minutes. I thought Lee Novak and Kallum Higginbotham were excellent again today, but I think Jordan will benefit from the rest. Hopefully he will be back firing on all cylinders next Saturday, if selected. It is a possibility that I could pick all three and accommodate them into a system. Whatever team I pick will be for the sake of the football club and not the individual."

Finally, Grayson gave us a quick heads up on the fitness of the squad heading into the play-offs;

"We won't be too far away; Gary Naysmith is probably the only player who will miss out. Alan Lee has been in and out training over the past week so he should be back fit for next Saturday. There will be some disappointed players because I can only pick 16 for my team next week."

Match Report: Huddersfield Town 2-0 Yeovil Town

Huddersfield ended the season on a massive high with a confident win against Yeovil Town. Town controlled the game from the off which was surprising to see especially with the current form they are on, yet today things seemed to click into place finally under Simon Grayson. Huddersfield Town enjoyed excellent possession of the ball whilst also creating dangerous chances and even the midfield put a decent shift in today.

Simon Grayson bravely named an unchanged starting eleven for the final regular league one campaign game and top goalscorer Jordan Rhodes remained on the bench yet again.

The first chance of the match fell to Kallum Higginbotham who expertly made his way past two Yeovil players only to shoot tamely into Sam Walkers (Yeovil's goalkeeper) hands from the edge of the box. Yeovil had also been attempting to grab the first goal but it was immediately obvious that they were trying to catch the terriers on the break.

Peter Clarke was having a solid game at the back for Huddersfield and just 16minutes into the game he managed to get the ball to Jack Hunt, who was also having a great game going forward, who in turn played the ball inside for Arfield who could only manage to hit the side netting with his shot. Thirty-four minutes into the first half, Danny Ward made the Yeovil keeper work with his 25 yard effort that he could only parry away.

Jack Hunt and Scott Arfield were performing extremely well for Huddersfield and on the stroke of half time they combined together which ultimately ended with a dangerous Hunt cross only for on-form striker Lee Novak to send a glancing header into the back of the net from 12 yards out. The lead could of easily been doubled just seconds later as Higginbotham beat his marker to force Walker into a splendid diving save from 20 yards out. The terriers went into the dressing room at half time with a deserved goal advantage in a game that was slowly becoming more and more one sided.

Lee Novak celebrates his 3rd goal in 3 games

With the restart, Yeovil tried to get themselves back into the game and should of equalised through striker Andrew Williams who got past Clarke, Morrison and Hunt before having his effort superbly saved by Ian Bennett who was trying to cement his place as the terriers number one goalkeeper. Kieran Agard then threatened the home sides goal as his 18 yard shot just whistled past the wrong side if the post.

Jack Hunt continued to impress Grayson and the fans but it was on-loan defender Morrison who's header had to be cleared off the line to deny his team a clear two goal lead. However, it didn't take long before the game was killed off by the terriers as Danny Ward doubled the lead when his shot rifled into the bottom corner after a neat little flick on by Higginbotham. With the game all but wrapped up, Grayson changed things by bringing on Rhodes, Robinson & T.Clarke at the expense of Novak, Johnson & Hunt. Ward came close to making it three but his late effort didn't beat Walker who had a solid game for Yeovil and kept Huddersfield at bay for longer than expected.

With Walsall beating MK Dons it means that Huddersfield Town have leapfrogged them into fourth place and by doing so have gained the second leg home advantage in the play-offs. Massive performance from Huddersfield Town today and they were very impressive for the first time under Simon Grayson. Maybe we are peaking at the right time for the play-offs but more of the same and we shall be heading to Wembley!

Grayson Not Interested In Released Leeds Players

Rumours have been floating around linking Huddersfield Town with a few of the players which Leeds United have released under new manager Neil Warnock. Simon Grayson has however stated that he is not interested in any of the players yet but is focusing on the current squad he has aswell as promotion through the League One play-offs. This is what he had to say about the situation:

"Obviously we are at the stage of the year when players are being released, but what is happening at other clubs is really not my problem. I have to look to my group of players and focus the Yeovil game tomorrow and then our two big games against Milton Keynes Dons and try to ensure that we are playing against the likes if Leeds in the Championship next season."

Simon Grayson Only Concentrating On Promotion

Of the eleven players to leave Leeds United, five are to be released with their contracts not being renewed. These are Alex Bruce, Lloyd Sam, Mikael Forsell, Danny Webber & Maik Taylor. Any of them will undoubtedly be able to fit into any League One side and so it wouldn't surprise us if Grayson wasn't tempted to bring any of them to Huddersfield Town.

Jordan Rhodes To Be Rested Again

Simon Grayson has hinted that top goalscorer Jordan Rhodes may well be rested for the game against Yeovil. He was an unused sub on the bench for the away tie against Walsall which ended 1-1 and it may well be the same situation this week.

Jordan Rhodes Being Rested For The Play-Offs

Grayson has already said that the play-offs are the only things which matter bow but he still wants to see a strong performance from the terriers to end the regular League One campaign on a high. This is what he had to say about Rhodes:

“He has had a long hard season and has looked a little tired over the last few games, Jordan was quite happy with that decision because he has carried the goal-scoring burden for the club this season. We gave him a breather (against Walsall) and we may do the same (against Yeovil). Then he will be ready for the play-offs.”

We personally would like him to feature in the weekend clash between ourselves and Yeovil but can understand where Grayson is coming from. Would you like to see Rhodes back in action or see him rested for the play-offs against MK Dons?