Defender previews Town’s game against Reading
Club News
MURRAY’S PATIENCE IS PAYING OFF
23 February 2015
Murray Wallace’s patience is paying off.
The 22 year-old defender has had to bide his time this season as Joel Lynch, Mark Hudson and Tommy Smith filled the centre half berths, but he’s now in the side and has helped the Terriers complete impressive defensive performances against AFC Bournemouth and Cardiff City.
“I’m always determined to get in the team and whenever I’m in it, my aim is to stay there! I try and do as well as I can, but it’s more important that the team gets the results,” Murray told htafc.com.
“I get frustrated when I’m out of the side, but I have to accept that there are players here who have been in the game a little bit longer and have a wee bit more experience.
“I would never say that others deserve to start ahead of me as I believe in my ability, but equally you need to respect your teammates and if they’re playing really well, you can’t do anything about it – even if you’re doing well in training.
“Joel (Lynch) is coming back from injury soon and that will add a bit more pressure as he’ll be anxious to get back into the team. Hopefully that will raise my game.”
The Scottish centre back believes playing alongside Town Captain Mark Hudson is benefitting his game:
“I think ‘Huddy’ brings experience and I bring youth, so we can work off each other well. He talks to me a lot and keeps me right on the pitch; I’m learning a lot from him.
“He’s a bit older than me, so maybe I have more energy to run about a bit more! However with his experience, he doesn’t need to – he just gets into position.
“The more I can learn, the better I’ll become and that’s what I want to do. I’m learning as much as I can from players like Mark.”
The former Falkirk player has also learned from two red cards earlier in the season, albeit one was rightly overturned upon Town’s appeal:
“It’s funny – throughout my whole career I’ve not picked up many yellow or red cards, but this season it seems to be happening all the time. My first red card was overturned so I can’t count that, but the second one (at Norwich City) was probably more clear-cut! You’ve got to commit though.
“It’s those situations that you learn from, in terms of your positioning and little things like the way you’re standing.”
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Town’s – and Murray’s – next test follows on Tuesday night when Steve Clarke’s Reading arrive at the John Smith’s Stadium.
Murray continued: “We really want to build on the last couple of performances. We’ve had a couple of good defensive performances and got two draws, but in this league you need to win games to make a difference.
“We can start things and get the tempo higher by playing our passes quicker, but that has to happen throughout the whole team; fewer touches and shorter passes. Hopefully that will bring a turn of luck.
“However, from a defensive point of view I’m happy if the opposition don’t score! Reading’s team has good attacking options – they all bring something different to the table – but we’ll be ready for them.
“Obviously we want to climb as high up the table as possible, but it is still so tight and there are teams below us that we want to get away from. We’re fully focussed on doing that.”
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