Town frontman Jordan Rhodes spoke to the Daily Examiner ahead of his side's League One game against the Blues at the Galpharm Stadium this evening, Rhodes preferring this period of the season to last :
“The matches are evenly spaced, and unlike last season, when we went to Southampton then Carlisle, the travelling isn’t too demanding, we’ve been combining training with rest and all the lads have been making sure they eat the right things to maximise energy levels. We were all aware of the importance of beating Chesterfield having not won in our previous three games, and the result gave us a big lift.
“Now we aim to carry that on against Carlisle, and all our focus is on making sure we’re right on our game, because we’ll have to be. We know each other pretty well, and we all know we’re in for a tough game. Carlisle have some good players, the side has been together for a while now, they are always well organised and they work hard for each other.”
Meanwhile midfielder Oscar Gobern commented to Town's official website :
"We have got a great squad of players here. So much so that we have got top quality players who can't even make the bench on matchdays. It means that the starting eleven has also got to play at the top of their game to make sure they are in the side the following week. It is quickly getting towards the business end of the season and having the quality in depth will help us.
“Not many teams have got the same strength in depth and I am sure that it will prove vital towards the back end of the season. Teams around us may get nervous and start to falter so it is up to us to be there when that happens and take advantage. Hard work and determination are the main factors that will get us promoted. You could have all the ability in the world, but if you don't work at it, it comes to nothing. If everyone sticks together and works hard, I see no reason as to why we cannot gain promotion."
As far as team news is concerned for Huddersfield this evening it’s all about a busy seven days of loan signings to start with. Firstly at the end of last week Town tried to bring back giant centre-half Jamie McCombe from his temporary spell with Preston North End, only for the Lilywhites to refuse that request as there was no recall clause in the initial contract six-week deal.
Then on Wednesday of this week the Terriers did manage to get left-back Liam Ridehalgh to leave his Swindon loan spell at the end of it and return to the Galpharm as back-up for Gary Naysmith. The final bit of news being that yesterday Leeds recalled centre-half Alex Bruce from Huddersfield as cover for their injured defender Tom Lees, that along with McCombe’s situation therefore leaving Town a little short of numbers in the middle of their back four at the moment.
Injury-wise meanwhile the Terriers will have three definite absentees in Damien Johnson, Alex Smithies and Calum Woods. Central midfielder Johnson out short-term with a hamstring injury and goalkeeper Smithies missing after undergoing knee surgery twice this calendar year. Meanwhile first-choice left-back Woods, whose injury necessitated the recall from Swindon of Ridehalgh, is sidelined for the next few weeks after suffering ankle ligament damage in training.
Finally though two Town players do come back into their matchday squad, the pair being Peter Clarke and Danny Ward. Centre-half and captain Clarke having missed Huddersfield’s 1-0 home win over Chesterfield on Boxing Day as he was seeing out a one-match ban for picking up five yellow cards this season, with left-sided frontman Ward also being absent for that game after picking up a minor knock to his knee in training.
The referee for this evening's match is Michael Naylor from Sheffield and he will be assisted down the lines by Alf Greenwood from York and Wayne Grunnill from Hull. Meanwhile the fourth official is Jason Tyas from Honley in West Yorkshire.