New Contract For Tom Clarke

Tom Clarke has today signed a new contract that shall keep him at the club until the end of 2013. Clarke can play in a variety of positions and has been a regular pick for Simon Grayson since he was appointed as manager of the terriers. He has featured 11 times under Grayson which shows that he is favoured by the Town boss who had this to say about Tom;

"Tom is a good member of our playing squad who push hard for a place as we look to make the step up to the Championship. His ability to play in a variety of positions, to a high standard, is invaluable. He is a local lad and someone that has done his Club proud. Myself and the coaching staff were very impressed by his performances during the latter stages of last season."

Over the past seven years, Tom Clarke has made over 100 appearances for the club and although his brother didn't get offered a new contract this year, Clarke was more than delighted to sign once again for the club;

"It is a great to have signed the contract and I am glad to have got everything sorted quickly. I enjoyed a good end to last season and as ever I will train hard during pre-season to try and force my way into the team. Simon will bring players into the squad, but that happens every season and it is good for the Club and the players as it creates competition for places."

"It is going to be a tough season and we need two or three players in each position to make sure that everyone is fighting and playing at the top of their game."




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Grayson's Reaction To First Leg Victory

Huddersfield Town manager Simon Grayson was thrilled with the away victory against MK Dons yesterday but warned everyone that they had achieved nothing yet;

We are delighted that we have won and with the level of performance that we showed today. We have worked extremely hard over the last ten days on the game plan and our individuals stuck to it. As a team we broke quickly, passed the ball around very well and did the players did what we asked them to do, which is great as a manager.

There was pressure on the players today, but they have carried out every instruction that we asked of them.

We are still very wary of the opposition, which we have to be because MK Dons are a good team. We need to be focused physically and mentally in our preparation because we haven't achieved anything yet. Given the circumstances I would say that this is the best performance of my short rein at the Club; it follows on from a good performance against Yeovil. We had some good opportunities today and at the other end Ian Bennett pulled off a brilliant save at the death to keep a clean sheet.

The players are totally aware of what we need to do. The two lads in midfield dictated the game for much of it, got in and amongst them when we had to and passed the ball very well. Jordan showed good movement and finished the cross well and Jack normally swings those left foot efforts high and wide, but today it went in the back of the net.

We wont allow the players to be complacent on Tuesday and we will try and replicate what we have done today. I said to the players before the game to do what they have done throughout the season, as it has put them in the position they are currently in. I thought on occasion, when we got into the final third, we sometimes over-hit our pass which could have maybe got us one or two more goals.

Grayson emphasis its still all to play for in the second leg

Grayson talked about the injuries that a few players picked up in the match including Scott Arfield, Callum Woods & Peter Clarke;

Scott Arfield got a knock on his ankle; Calum Woods got a bang on his toe and then Lee Novak started to struggled as did Danny Ward. Peter Clarke was like Lazarus to recover from his knock. The lads who got injured will have an opportunity to get ready for Tuesday nights game. Full credit has to be given to the players who came on and affected the game for us. Peter's injury did look serious and we were considering options to play Tom Clarke at centre back and Danny at left back, but thankfully he came through it and I thought him and Sean Morrison were outstanding today.

Close to 4000 faithful Town fans descended upon Stadium:Mk for the game yesterday and Grayson acknowledged their support;

"The fans were fantastic today; I think there were about 4,000 in the away end and they never stopped signing from the first whistle to the last. It is a two-way thing because we want the supporters to back us, but we have to give them something to cheer about. They have shown today what the Club is all about and I imagine the atmosphere on Tuesday night will step up to another level and hopefully we will finish the job off.