Why Huddersfield Town should revisit their interest in Watford loan outcast Keith Andrews

Keith Andrews is a name familiar to Huddersfield Town fans.

The Terriers attempted to entice the Republic of Ireland international to the club during the summer by dangling the captaincy in front of him, but their pursuit was ultimately a fruitless one, with Watford sealing a season-long loan swoop for the 34-year-old from Bolton Wanderers in July.

And just a month after spurning the advances of Town, he showed them just what they had missed out on by scoring in his new side's 4-2 win over the Terriers.

It was his sixth appearance of the season in a productive start to life at Vicarage Road, but things quickly turned sour, with the resignation of Giuseppe Sannino after the win over Town acting as the catalyst for Andrews' fall from grace.

He failed to feature under former Brighton boss Oscar Garcia, who was forced to quit after just four matches following his admission to hospital with chest pains, or Billy McKinlay, whose ill-fated reign lasted a mere two matches and eight days.

A fourth manager of the campaign in Slavisa Jokanovic arrived and just five appearances have subsequently been accrued by Andrews, whose loan spell has become nothing short of a nightmare.

Of those five, he started three and was able to complete a full 90 minutes on only one occasion as he suffered more than most and was depicted as the fall guy for the Hornets' slump in form during November which saw them pick up three points from a possible 15.

In pictures: Rumoured Huddersfield Town transfer targets in January

And he now finds himself in the unenviable position of being unwanted by both his parent club - Bolton - and his loan club after a public falling-out with Jokanovic, who openly declared he was not allowing Andrews to train with either the first-team players or the development squad.

The decision was due, in part, to the rule which permits a club to name five loanees in a matchday 18, with Jokanovic sacrificing the Bolton man to make way for Crystal Palace midfield enforcer Adlene Guedioura.

His loan spell expired on January 1, but Watford are expected to try and extend that deal, leaving Andrews very much out in the cold and having delivered a come-and-get-me plea to other Championship clubs to rescue him from his Vicarage Road exile, he looks a viable central midfield option in January.

"It is a little bit of an odd situation really," Andrews told Sky Sports’ Goals on Sunday recently.

"I suppose that I am on gardening leave to a degree over something that happened at the club that I cannot really speak about.

"But now that the window is open again that loan situation can get changed so hopefully another club can take that loan on for the rest of the season. Hopefully another club will come to the rescue.

"I just want to play football and I am not just going to sit around somewhere for the sake of it. I have never made it difficult for any club I have been at. If they do not want me, or vice-versa, it is just one of those things. You only get one career, and I want to enjoy it and achieve as much as I can in it."

Bolton and Watford have reportedly agreed on a situation whereby the Hertfordshire outfit will 'sub-let' the midfielder out to another club and it could be that both Town and Andrews fit the bill for one another.

Despite his recent woes, this is a player who is understood to have played a key role behind the scenes at Watford in uniting a fractious dressing room which was subjected to the four managerial changes across 37 days this term.

The fact he was considered by Town as potential captain material speaks volumes about the leadership qualities he would have to offer to a Town midfield that, while hardly lacking in Championship class, is devoid of proven experience at this level.

Jonathan Hogg, at 26, is hardly a stalwart and yet he is Huddersfield's oldest player in a crucial area of the team and an area where the average age amounts to a mere 24 years.

It is a fact often lost on Town fans, who have become exasperated with the lack of consistency this side has shown in recent times under manager Chris Powell, and it may just be that Andrews possesses the mettle and know-how to guide the Terriers through any difficulty.

There is a scarcity of viable central midfield targets in January and, though Powell will hope to use his SE7 connections to lure Johnnie Jackson from Charlton Athletic and has looked at Dundee United's Stuart Armstrong, Andrews would appear a perfect target to both bolster the midfield ranks and increase the age of the squad.

Defenders and strikers are believed to be the priority areas for Powell in January, but failure to add to the midfield could be exposed as folly should suspensions or injuries occur.

Hogg is already out of this weekend's game, which pits Town and Watford together at the John Smith's Stadium, after his late sending-off in the FA Cup third-round defeat to Reading and beyond Butterfield and Coady, options are thin on the ground.

Oscar Gobern posted an encouraging 35-minute cameo on his return to the side at Rotherham United and capped his appearance in the 2-2 draw with an assist, but to rely on someone who has only recently re-emerged onto the first-team scene is a gamble.

Radoslaw Majewski's future remains up in the air and his situation is not dissimilar to that of Andrews', so the addition of a seasoned performer at this level seems a no-brainer for Town as they look to stave off a relegation battle in the second half of the season.

The signing of Andrews this month may not be the most glamorous prospect in the world for Town fans but, in moving for a player hellbent on proving a point after his personal disappointment of the last few months, he could be exactly what they require.