HUDDERSFIELD Town headed to the FA’s new national football centre at Burton-upon-Trent for fine-tuning ahead of tomorrow’s big Championship clash with Hull (5.20) after failing in a bid to train at the John Smith’s Stadium.

The pitch, which has undersoil heating and is therefore free from snow, will also host a Super League rugby match between the Giants and Widnes on Monday (3.00).

And stadium chiefs this week rejected requests from both tenant clubs to use the much-criticised surface for pre-match preparations (the Giants go to Salford today).

With their Canalside training base still snowbound, Town headed to St George’s Park at Burton for a two-day camp.

As the Football League loan deadline passed without any business as far as Town are concerned, the club’s chief executive Nigel Clibbens explained: “On Monday, faced with a very poor forecast and deep snow, we asked KSDL if in these extreme circumstances we could train on the pitch for 75 minutes sometime during this week.

“We were very mindful of the poor state of the pitch and the damage this could cause, but our options were very limited and facing a big game with little or no time on grass was not an option.

“KSDL told us they could not get it fit to play on by tomorrow if it was trained on this week and added that a request from the Giants had also been declined.

“As a result we looked elsewhere and fixed up two days at St George’s Park. We are very grateful to be accommodated. Once the 3G surface is installed at Canalside, we hope to be self-sufficient, even in extreme weather.”