Grayson Delighted With Scotland Tour

Simon Grayson has given his own opinion on how he thought the pre-season friendlies against Kilmarnock & Hibernian went. The Huddersfield Town boss may still be without a pre-season win but he has said how delighted he is with the outcome of the Scotland tour. The terriers drew both of their games, the latest being a 2-2 draw at Eastern Road against Hibernian where Novak & Scannell netted;

"It was a good game. I thought in the first half that we played some very good stuff rounded off with two excellent goals. In terms of the general organisation and shape of the team, I was impressed and it is good to see our fitness levels improving match by match. We were up against a team up who start their League campaign next week so there were plenty of positives to take from the game and other things that we still need to work on. Our tactical play will develop over the next couple of weeks."


"We made a lot of substitutions at half time so we lost out flow slightly, but there were plenty of good individual performances. The week in general has gone well for us up in Scotland - I am delighted with the outcome."


Grayson managed to give all the new boys some game time (minus Keith Southern) including Joel Lynch who is recovering from a slight injury;


"It was good to see Joel Lynch out there for a decent period of time. He was only suffering with a little niggle before the trip and I think the fans that attended the game could see what he is all about; he was composed on the ball, defended when he had to and was very mobile."


Grayson was also pleased with the goals which were bagged in the second pre-season friendly against Hibernian. Novak slotted home the first after good play involving Rhodes before Scannell cut inside from out wide and curled the ball into the net to double the terriers lead;


"It was a good move that lead to Lee Novak’s opener, I think everybody in the ground expected Jordan to shoot, but he showed his unselfishness and laid it on a plate for Lee. Also, I am delighted for Sean to have got his first goal for the Club; I think you saw today that he is a fantastic footballer who can be a match winner."

Grayson Pleased With Performance Against Kilmarnock

Simon Grayson watched his side pick up a well deserved 1-1 draw against Kilmarnock and explained to the official website that he was pleased with the performance as a whole. Grayson also explained how much of a tough test it was for his team tonight and one which will aid the entire squad to regain total fitness before the Championship campaign.

"When you come to Scotland for pre-season you know that you are behind them in terms of fitness levels because their season starts a few weeks before ours. We knew that Kilmarnock would pass it around because they are a good footballing team and they gave us a good game. It tested our current fitness levels."

"At times we were a little bit sloppy tonight, but on other occasions we passed the ball well. Our consistency on the ball will develop as our pre-season schedule progresses; we are trying to incorporate a passing game with mixing it up and going long to the attackers. I am pleased with the workout and the performances of certain individuals over the last two games."

"We made a few errors, but we have been doing tough double sessions over the last few days and had a good session this morning; so there may have been one or two who had tired legs, but there is no better way than improving your match fitness than being out there on the pitch."

Jordan Rhodes netted the equaliser for Huddersfield Town and Grayson praised the striker who scored 40 goals last season;

"It was business as usual for Jordan and hopefully his goal will be the first of another 40 goals in the upcoming season! It was a good ball in from Paul Dixon, who has got good delivery, and Jordan did the rest with his movement and header."

Joel Lynch made his pre-season debut for Huddersfield Town after becoming Graysons fifth signing of the current transfer window. Lynch failed to appear at Guiseley due to injury but it seems like the defender is coming back to full fitness according to Grayson. Right back Jack Hunt was cancelled out of the Kilmarnock game shortly before kick-off due to a tight hamstring and he will now be allowed to rest until Thursday;

"We didn't want to give Joel too long because he has trained over the last couple of days and we had to think long and hard over whether to play him tonight, but he wanted to have a little bit of game time. Jack Hunt has done work with the physios over the last few days and this morning - and he will probably join back in with the squad on Thursday. We won't be taking unnecessary risks on players at this stage of the season."

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Match Report: Kilmarnock 1-1 Huddersfield Town

The terriers travelled to Rugby Park to play their second pre-season friendly and the first of their Scotland tour against Kilmarnock. Grayson went with his entire squad minus Scott Arfield & Jamie McCombe who have stayed at home due to slight back & ankle injuries. Huddersfield fielded two strong sides in each half of the game as Grayson looked to give experience to the young players yet also keep the more experienced players fit. Jack Hunt was left out of the squad due to a tight hamstring and this was announced just before both teams started their warm up preparations.

Huddersfield immediately went under pressure from the home side just two minutes into the game as Calum Woods' pass was intercepted by Matthew Kennedy but he hit his shot over the bar from a tough angle. Kennedy was causing the terriers a lot of problems and he yet again intercepted a pass only to fire wide of Alex Smithies goal.

Oliver Norwood teamed up with fellow new boy Adam Clayton with a neat interplay of football which forced a corner upon Kilmarnock. From the corner it was Norwood who gave the terriers their first shot on goal as his curling effort from the edge of the area had to be stopped by Cameron Bell. As the game progressed it was the visitors who were starting to dominate things after being pressurised early on. Sean Scannell skipped past two Kilmarnock defenders but he could only fire his shot wide before Rhodes made Bell make yet another save to deny the striker his first goal since scoring his penalty kick at Wembley.

The terriers were however trailing after the twenty minute mark despite starting to control the game with long periods of possession. Jeroen Tesselaar crossed the ball into the box and it was Lee Johnson who volleyed it past Smithies to give Kilmarnock the lead. Kilmarnock stepped things up even further after scoring the opener and nearly got a second through Kennedy who's effort was headed away by a diving Murray Wallace. Smithies was called upon just a few moments later to keep the deficit to just one as he managed to block a Rory McKenzie effort with his legs.

Huddersfield levelled things up before half time through last seasons top goalscorer Jordan Rhodes who headed home from a brilliant cross by Paul Dixon who continually was doing well to get forward as much as possible. The whistle went for half time and Grayson employed the same strategy as what he had done at Guiseley by making nine changes to the team which gave a different look to the terriers as they re-emerged for the second half.

Good play by Kallum Higginbotham & Murray Wallace saw Anton Robinson being played through but he was hacked down by Manuel Pascali as he beared down on goal. Simon Graysons latest transfer signing in the form of Joel Lynch then made his debut for the yorkshire club as he came on to replace Murray Wallace who was having yet another strong game to follow up from a strong personal performance against Guiesley on Saturday.

Antony Kay has been written off by Town fans since promotion into the Championship but it was the experienced midfielder who came close to giving the away side the lead as he headed just wide from a Danny Ward cross. Higginbotham was in the midst of things once again a few minutes later as he linked up well with Chris Atkinson but the resulting shot from Jimmy Spencer was hit straight at Bell in goal for Kilmarnock.

The final whistle from the referee brought the game to an end in a well deserved 1-1 draw for the terriers who will have felt like they had done enough to come out as winners.

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