Duane Holmes is the latest young player off a Canalside production line which chairman Dean Hoyle believes will serve Huddersfield Town well for years to come.
The bright 18-year-old's attacking spirit has caught the eye of fans since making his senior bow in the Capital One Cup at Hull City.
Hoyle is content with Town’s start to the Championship campaign – 14 points from 11 matches and 13th place in the table at the second international break – but delighted with how the recruitment and development wheels are turning away from the first-team scene.
“I’m very happy with the structure of the club, especially with the Under 18s and Under 21s top of their respective leagues,” said Hoyle, who will watch Town’s return to senior action at Leicester a week on Saturday.
“We have got two or three players on five-year contracts in the Academy and that’s because we have recruited well and they are great assets for the future.
“Players are being produced and things are coming together, but this hasn’t just happened overnight, it has taken a lot of planning and is being taken on by Ross Wilson (director of football), the people in our Academy and Mark Robins.
“I’m really, really pleased with how it’s going and, as I’ve said about things generally at the moment, I’m content but not complacent.”
Hoyle says Town will be ready for the tough three-match run against Leicester, Leeds United and Wigan Athletic which starts a week on Saturday and while he was disappointed Robins’ side couldn’t take at least a point from the Watford match, he’s pleased the flow of ‘goals against’ has been stemmed from last season.
“We have tightened up and, while it might have cost us some fluency going forward at times, we are a work in progress and we are trying to bring the right players together to get the magic formula,” he added.
“It’s important we don’t have to score four goals to win every game any more, but we are always looking to the players to improve as we go along and that work won’t stop.”
