Huddersfield Town manager: It's great to be back on grass

Dec 10 2010 by Dougie Thomson, Huddersfield Daily Examiner

LEE CLARK looked ahead to Town’s first match in a fortnight and declared: “Bring it on.”

League I leaders Brighton visit the Galpharm tomorrow and the home manager, buoyed by the return of Lee Novak, Tom Clarke and Gary Naysmith to full training, is more than ready to pit his wits against Gus Poyet.

The Uruguayan’s South coast side put four without reply past FC United of Manchester in Wednesday’s FA Cup second-round replay at Bury.

But they haven’t won any of their last three league games and Clark is confident his fifth-placed team have what it takes to move to within four points of the summit side.

“It seems like a long time since we played Macclesfield,” said Clark, whose team beat the League II outfit 6-0 after defeating MK Dons 4-1 in the league.

“It’s been a fortnight of frustration with three games postponed and training plans altered because of the weather conditions.

“But we’ve found some grass over the last couple of days, and it was great to have a full squad involved in our session on Wednesday.”

Clark confirmed that Naysmith, who sustained his toe injury during the August Carling Cup tie at his former club Everton, could join comeback pair Novak (hamstring) and Clarke (knee) in Wednesday’s practice match against the Goodison side at their training ground.

But his focus is firmly on facing Brighton, who have been top of the table since September, and he added: “It’s got the makings of a great game.

“I played against Gus when he was with Chelsea and Tottenham, and he’s taken to management well, going in at Brighton partway through last season and turning things around for them.