Town Assistant Manager Terry McDermott has told htafc.com that he is loving life at his new Club as part of Lee Clark's new team and that the Play-Offs have to be the target this season.
The 57-year old Liverpudlian has been with the Club for just over a fortnight and told the Club's official website that everything is going according to plan.
"It's been fantastic - I've thoroughly enjoyed it so far," Terry explained. "I've been very pleasantly surprised at the quality of player that we have here but obviously that needs to improve and you are always looking to bring in better players, without being disrespectful to the lads we already have here. Everyone around the Club is top quality as well - there is a really good atmosphere.
"The fans have been fantastic in the two homes games we have had and were very vocal in defeat at Carlisle. Everything is geared towards getting us into the Play-Offs."
McDermott, formerly Assistant to Kevin Keegan at Newcastle United when Clark was a player and then a coach, explained that it was his close relationship with Town's new manager that drew him to the Galpharm Stadium.
"I had spoken to Lee on numerous occasions and he has always said that when he went into management, he would like me to come and help. There are not many people I would have come here for, but Lee is one of them and it was an honour to be asked. I knew that Huddersfield is a big club with great tradition as I am very friendly with Frank Worthington, who loves the place.
"When Lee got the job he had to talk to the owner and Chief Executive about me coming here but he wanted people he could trust surrounding him; people such as myself, Faz and Blackie. We are hard working - we've been here from 8.30 in the morning until 6 at night - and we love it.
"However, the most important thing about being at a Club like this is winning games. We have won two and we probably deserved to be beaten at Carlisle, although not by a three goal scoreline. We have a big game against Oldham coming up and if we can win that, it will make life a lot easier.
"I think the fans can see that we are trying to play football and as I have said there will be players coming in, hopefully of good quality, and these fans deserve that. 15,000 fans coming to watch a League One team is a big crowd and if we keep winning games and playing good football, hopefully that will increase to 20,000 in the weeks and months to come."
McDermott is famed for his ability to build rapports with the players at a football club and he admitted that this is a vital part of a successful team.
"At every single football club, you are going to have disgruntled football players. However, what I would like to think we are good at is that we care about every single player in our squad. Only 11 players can go out onto the pitch on a Saturday, but the rest of the squad are very much a part of what is happening here and we will look after them. Of course they will be disgruntled when they are not playing and players have problems occasionally, just as everyone else has in life, but we are here to help them in whatever capacity we can - both on and off the field. If we have a happy club, we have a chance of being successful."
The Terriers currently sit in 10th place, six points outside the Play-Offs, but McDermott feels that the aim has to be to get involved in the promotion mix come the end of the current season.
"We want to be in the top six come the end of the season but if we go on a run, which can happen, then why not automatic promotion? A lot of people might say that is unrealistic, but I don't see that - we have 23 games to go this season. If not automatic, we are certainly aiming to get into the Play-Offs and it might not happen as there are some decent teams around there such as Peterborough, MK Dons and Millwall. We are catching those teams though.
"In the two weeks I've been here the players have been so impressive in terms of their attitude. I've watched players train at both Newcastle and Celtic over the years and although they have an advantage skill-wise, they have not matched the effort that our lads put in every day and that can only stand us in good stead. When you combine that with the players that we are hoping to bring in over the new few weeks and I cannot see any reason why we can't get into the Play-Offs.
"It is a pleasure to be here at the minute but we will have our downs too, when we expect to win but we don't. However, we are all looking forward to getting in the Play-Offs this year; there is no reason why we can't and I think we will."
Get your ticket for this Saturday's Roses derby against Oldham at the Galpharm Stadium - call the Galpharm Ticket Office on 0870 44 44 552!
