Mark previews Saturday’s game against Cardiff
Mark Hudson will be proud to lead Huddersfield Town’s developing side against his former club Cardiff City in the Sky Bet Championship on Saturday.
Hudson spent five seasons with the Bluebirds as the Club gained promotion to the Premier League, but he departed Wales to become a Terrier in August 2014 – and is loving life at Huddersfield Town.
“I’m really enjoying it. My family is settled up here, which is a big thing for me; I really wanted my kids and wife to be here with me day to day so I can be involved in their lives,” Mark explained.
On the pitch, Mark is enjoying his role as Captain of Town’s developing First Team side:
“I’m really enjoying leading this team as Captain. It’s a different experience for me to lead a young side day to day, but I’m really enjoying working with them and hopefully they’re bringing the best out of me as well. I’m still learning things every day at nearly 33!
“I’m playing week in, week out and barring a few results, I think we’ve done well. We’re a young side trying to find out way at a consistent level. We have dropped our level a couple of times, but we’ve also had some really good results. It’s a learning curve for us, but hopefully we are on the up on that curve.
“I think we grew up as a group away at Bournemouth last Saturday. We really stuck to the game-plan we put in place during Thursday and Friday and did a job that a senior side would do.
“That wasn’t just the back four – it was the entire XI. We stuck together, kept our shape and shifted as a team really well.
“Now we need to maintain that a bit more during the season. When we play against the better teams we need to stay in the matches, because then we can hurt them with our creative play and pace going forward.
“Just look at our goal at Bournemouth – it came after 20-odd passes. We can pass teams off the pitch, but then you need to dig in and do the dirty side when it’s not going so well. If we do that, we’ll climb the league further and further.
“As a Club we’re looking forward and the players are looking forward to the games, which is great.”
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One of the aforementioned young talents is Scotland Under-21 international Murray Wallace, who did a sterling job alongside Hudson at AFC Bournemouth last weekend.
On Murray, Mark explained: “He’s a real talent. He’s got a lot to offer and he’s going to have a great career in the game. He’s still learning and I’m trying to help him find his way, alongside Tommy Smith and Jack Robinson on the sides.
“We have a very young back four when Joel (Lynch) is not in the team, but that’s the case when you go through the team. I’m trying to help all of them drive forward and learn things during the games.”
Another man to earn rave reviews from the Goldsands Stadium was goalkeeper Alex Smithies; another player Hudson had high praise for.
“For someone of 24 to have played over 250 games is incredible. I was surprised when he told me how young he is, because he seems to have been around for years.
“As a goalkeeper, you don’t come into your peak until you push past 27 or 28; they have long careers. For Alex to be peaking when he’s so young is great.
“He’s a good illustration of how young our team is. He did really well last weekend and I was really pleased for him, because he works so hard on the training field day in, day out.”
Saturday will be special for Hudson, who will come up against his former employers for the first time since his departure come 3pm at the John Smith’s Stadium.
He continued: “I loved it; I really enjoyed my five years there. I have fond memories when I look back and I wish the Club all the best.
“I think you’d expect them to be higher up the table with the players we’ve got, but they’re not. There are some big teams in this division that are probably not doing as well as they should be.
“Going into this weekend I want three points. We’re focussing on ourselves; it’s a home game, so we want to take the game to them – attacking as we have been recently.”
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