Nathan Clarke is one of Huddersfield Town's undeniable success stories. A natural born centre-half and graduate of Huddersfield Town's Academy, Nathan is currently enjoying his sixth season in the blue and white stripes and has been named one of the top fifty players outside of the Premiership two years running, in addition to Huddersfield Town's Player of the Year at the end of the 2004/2005 season.

Despite being one of Town's most talented players, injury and form has led to Nathan having to sit some games on the bench. Recently, however, 'Clarkey' has regained his reputable form and is back in Jacko's team. Although his individual performances have been impressive, he was part of the team that were knocked out of the FA Cup on Saturday. It wasn't until Nathan shot - an incredible lob from his own half which hit the Blackpool 'keeper's crossbar - that the game sprung to life, however after a controversial penalty (for which Nathan was apparently responsible), Wes Hoolahan converted and saw Blackpool win the first round tie 1-0.

"Obviously, we as a team were really disappointed. I think all the lads wanted to progress into the next stages of the Cup, but it wasn't meant to be. The ref gave Blackpool a penalty, saying that I handled the ball. I don't think I did - you look at how hard their lad kicked the ball - it was definitely ball to hand, not hand to ball. It's a real shame, because we were all talking about the past year before the game in the dressing room, and saying how nice it would be to play another big team like Chelsea in the competition - especially for the lads in the team who were unfortunate enough not to play at Stamford Bridge. Obviously you can't take away anything from Blackpool, who played really well, especially in the kind of weather we both had to play in. I think the weather was a factor in the performance, but at the same time, like I said, both teams had to play in it. It was horrible, our strips were soaked right through, which created a load of extra weight and you'd go in for a slide tackle at one end and wouldn't stop sliding until you were at the other end of the pitch!"

One of Town's main criticisms this season has been their lack of home form. Of Huddersfield's last twelve games, Town have played four away and eight at the Galpharm. Town have won or drawn all of their away games and drawn three, lost four and won once at the Galpharm Stadium. The current lack of form at home is perplexing to the 22-year old defender, especially given the creation of the Galpharm Stadium into a fortress over the past three seasons.

"I honestly can't put my finger on why we have struggled at home this season. I think that for the most part, the lads have turned in a good performance nearly every game. I think that is one of the difficult things - because we are putting in a lot of effort and are always getting better - it's impossible to say exactly what we need to do to convert the home performances into three points. I think that at the moment it just feels like we need to have that occasional piece of magic from the lads or just old fashioned luck."

Saturday's crowd of over 6000 was the second highest FA Cup attendance of the weekend but the day finished with the despondent home fans booing the players at the final whistle.

"It gets to the players, of course, but I personally don't blame the fans at all. At the end of the day, the supporters pay their money for the tickets and expect us to be playing better than we are at the moment and all I can say is that we are trying our best to get the results. The one thing about the exit from the FA Cup is that we have no excuse now whatsoever. It's 100% league concentration from this point on."

The league, coincidently, takes Nathan Clarke and the Terriers to Bloomfield Road to face the exact team that knocked them out of the FA Cup, where Town will be hoping for three points and a continuation of their brilliant away form.

"It's revenge time, in a matter of speaking. I think all of the lads know that it's a great chance to give a little bit of payback to Blackpool, and with our away form the way it is in addition to knowing a lot about them now, after the past weekend's game, I think there are a lot of positives to look forward to when we go to their place on Saturday."

Although being Huddersfield Town's original Clarke, his younger brother Tom now joins Nathan in the defensive ranks, currently out for the remainder of the season with a severe cruciate ligament injury.

"Having Tom in the team is brilliant. He's one of the lads now, and has fit into the team really well. It's a shame about him being injured at the moment, as he was just starting to get first-team games under his belt and impressed everyone. It hasn't been a problem making that transition from brothers to team-mates at all, if anything, despite there being four years between us we have grown up together and know each other's game. It makes things better for us individually and hopefully adds something to the team."

In addition to the other accolades that Nathan Clarke has receive during is time at Huddersfield Town, he is also the Club's vice-captain after Jon Worthington. During the Town skipper's spell on the sidelines with a hernia injury, 'Clarkey' filled in as Club Captain and is proud to have worn the armband, something that he may be in with a chance of doing this coming Saturday, as Jon Worthington serves a one-match suspension after picking up a controversial fifth yellow card of the season.

"It was a great experience. It is always bittersweet, as Worthy is a great Captain and he has to be injured or unable to play for me to take the armband, but to be the skipper and to lead out the team I've supported since I was a lad is something that is very special to me."