Simon ready to shuffle the pack at Palace
Simon Grayson hinted that he may make some changes to his side for the trip to Crystal Palace this Saturday.
The Terriers are currently on a six game winless streak heading in to tomorrow’s clash live on Sky Sports.
“There is a possibility that we may make a few changes, but that is always the case after you lose a game,” said Simon. “I am not the type of person to make drastic changes, but there may be a few surprising alterations. We need to try and rectify things. Nobody’s place is safe.
“We have had some difficult fixtures lately. We went to Middlesbrough, then played Leeds and Bolton at home before travelling to Hull who are currently flying in the League. Saturday’s game should act as a massive motivation for the players who are playing live on Sky against a team who are second in the division. The last time we were on Sky we did ourselves justice against Blackpool.”
Despite Town’s poor form, Simon has been pleased with what he has seen on the training pitch over the last few days.
“The players have trained with a determination this week and they know that they haven’t done the right things over the past few weeks,” he said.
“There has been a resolve to put those things right and hopefully that will bear fruit on Saturday. The players know that if they don’t perform then they will be out of the team and then if things don’t improve they will leave the football club; hopefully nothing like that will happen because everyone wants to put things right.”
As a result of being live on Sky the clash has been moved back to a 5.20pm kick-off, a decision Simon sympathised with the fans about.
“It isn’t easy for the fans,” Simon said. “Kick-offs can be dictated by the TV companies and sometimes it can be tough on the fans – Saturday is certainly one of those occasions. They will have to head back to Huddersfield in the early hours of the morning and that may put some people off going. It isn’t easy for the players as well because their preparations for a 3pm kick-off would start by breakfast followed by a walk. With the kick-off being later that can mean that players are waiting around and eating at the wrong times. It isn’t ideal, but you have to adjust to it and you can’t use it as an excuse.”
Palace are currently placed second in the npower Championship and possess the League’s top scorer in Glenn Murray (20).
“They are an exciting team who have plenty of pace and power. They have got the hottest property in the npower Championship in Wilfried Zaha who everyone is keeping an eye on; also, Glenn Murray is on fire. Ian (Holloway) has just carried on from where Dougie (Freedman) left things; they were playing attractive football then and he has just kept them ticking over. Saying that, they have only won one in four and we will go there in good spirits.
“Our full-backs need to put in a very good performance on the weekend because their wingers are both excellent footballers. Each defender needs to win his personal battle against the Palace attackers; if they do that then we will have a very good chance.”
With the January transfer window looming Simon confirmed that he is trying to extend deals on a number of his current loan players.
“There is a lot of work going on behind the scenes with regard to the players we have on loan. One or two will stay while one or two will go back to their clubs. Nigel Clibbens and Ross Wilson are working on that while I am just trying to concentrate on the football because that is the most important thing. I know that there have been promising discussions between clubs regarding some of the players already.”
To finish Simon delivered more good news on the injury front.
“We have had the majority of the players training this week although it has been difficult with the weather conditions. We lost Simon Church last weekend through illness, but he has trained this week so will again be in contention.”
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