LEE NOVAK accepts League I will be a tough division once again this season but he’s more determined than ever to help Huddersfield Town finish top.
The 22-year-old Geordie was used mainly from the bench last time around as Lee Clark’s side missed out on promotion at the very last hurdle.
It was another painful experience for Novak – part of the side defeated at Millwall in the play-off semi-final stage the season before – but he’s bristling with focus to help ensure Town achieve automatic elevation this time.
Novak, quite naturally, is hoping to stay fit and strong so that he can challenge to make more starts – beginning at home to Bury tomorrow – and improve on his goals tally, and he’s ready for the action to start after notching five times in pre-season.
“The aim this season is simple – come the start of May we want to be looking forward to Championship football,” said Novak, who has netted 19 times in 82 outings for the club (38 of those from the bench) since signing from Gateshead in 2009.
“It is always hard to make that last step up. We were all convinced it was going to happen for us last season having got as far as we did, but it wasn’t to be.
“All we can do now is aim to win the league and go up automatically and that’s what we’ll be determined to do in the new season.”
Popular striker Novak – a fans’ favourite because of his hard-working stye – bagged five goals in an injury hit 2010-11 campaign, including one on the final day of the regular season against Brentford.
He got on in both legs of the exciting play-off semi-final against Bournemouth, scoring a penalty in the famous Galpharm shoot-out, but he was left on the bench as Town lost the final 3-0 to Peterborough at Old Trafford, manager Clark opting to use Jordan Rhodes, Alan Lee and Danny Cadamarteri instead.
“We don’t want to be in the play-offs this time, we want to do it automatically – that’s the aim,” continued Novak.
“League I will be another tough division this season – it was tough last season and it will be no different this time.
“Bournemouth and Rochdale showed last year how strong the promoted teams can be, so we will be wary of the threat posed by Bury tomorrow as well as Chesterfield, Wycombe and Stevenage.
“And the ones who are coming down – Preston, Sheffield United and Scunthorpe – are going to want to go straight back up, so there will be a lot of competition.
“What we need to do is pick up where we left off in the regular season with a big unbeaten run.
“There is no reason why we can’t do that. I have no doubt we can do it, even though it’s a very competitive league, because we have shown how consistent we can be.
“A lot of teams want to take that step up, just like we are trying to do. Everyone is in it to try and do the same thing, win promotion, and if we can get another great run going then that will give us a massive boost.”
Personally, Novak is keen to make more of a contribution having been hampered by injuries last time.
