ALAN LEE reckons Joey Gudjonsson can play a major role in Huddersfield Town’s promotion push.
Out of the picture under Lee Clark, the Icelandic midfielder made his first appearance of the season as a substitute as Exeter were beaten 2-0 at the Galpharm in Simon Grayson’s first match at the helm last Saturday.
That was followed by a start at Stevenage on Tuesday, when it took a late leveller to deny Town another victory.
Now fourth-placed Town go for three points at Bury in one of three key League I Roses battles, with third-placed Sheffield Wednesday at nearby Rochdale and second-placed Sheffield United hosting Oldham.
“Joey’s played for some top clubs and he’s a popular lad,” said striker Lee, who has himself started both games under his former Aston Villa teammate Grayson.
“He can be a real handful when he’s on song and so we welcome him back. But he’s not alone. We’ve got some very special players who haven’t played much.
“That’s down to the fact that the lads with the shirts have been doing really well. It’s also a tribute to the squad that Lee Clark built here.
“We wish the old gaffer well for the future, but now we’re getting on with things under the new manager.
“He and I go back a long way – I even cleaned his boots a few times when I was a young lad a Villa and he was one of the senior players!
“He’s got a great track record of getting teams promoted from this division, and having someone come in soon after the previous boss left has helped settled everything down.
“We should really have had six points from six under him, and it was so disappointing to concede the equaliser at Stevenage, especially after Alex Smithies made such a good penalty save.
“But we can go to Bury with confidence and believing we can make it seven points from nine.”
Town welcome back Jordan Rhodes from Scotland Under 21 duty for their first competitive game at Gigg Lane since 2003.
The hot shot won his seventh Under 21 cap in the goalless draw with Holland in Paisley and Lee hailed his performance against Exeter, when he reached 30 Town goals for the season with the clincher after Jamie McCombe’s opener.
“Jordan’s only really had two chances,” added Lee.
“But he stuck them both away (the first was disallowed), and that shows what can happen when we create chances for him.
“I thought the offside decision was a little harsh. It’s actually quite hard to be offside from the position where Jordan was. But we won the game so we can’t complain too much.”
Lee believes Grayson’s policy of continuity rather than major change has helped make the managerial switch a smooth one.
He said: “The gaffer knows he’s not taken over a situation where the players are struggling for confidence or results. He has just told us to express ourselves and give it our all.”
