HUDDERSFIELD Town winger Gary Roberts returned to active service as Lee Clark’s side won 2-1 at Wrexham last night.
Roberts, a reported target for Championship side Southampton, started in a three-man attack alongside last season’s leading scorer Jordan Rhodes and Danny Cadamarteri.
However, there was no place for Town’s capture Premier League Manchester City’s Donal McDermott, who is expected to feature in tonight’s trip to Sheffield FC (7.30).
Also absent was new signing from Bolton Wanderers Danny Ward, who was laid low with a minor illness, but he should make the trip to Scotland with the Town squad.
Wrexham’s mammoth squad for the friendly included former Town servant Lee Fowler and Frank Sinclair.
And it was the Blue Square Premier League outfit who were quickest out of the blocks.
But Town repelled the early attacks and took the lead on 12 minutes when Tommy Miller’s header from a free-kick was beaten out by Wrexham keeper Joslain Mayebi only for Rhodes to force in the loose ball.
However Town, who had Oscar Gobern in industrious mood in midfield and on-loan centre-back Liam Cooper looking strong and producing some accurate distribution from the back, did not take the lead into the second half as Mathias Pogba equalised minutes before the break.
With the home side making wholesale changes at half-time, to be followed by Town switching virtually all their outfield personnel by the 65th minute, the second period lacked somewhat in cohesion.
But six minutes from full time, Town ensured it was two wins from two pre-season games as substitute midfielder Matt Crooks played a perfectly-weighted pass into the path of Lee Novak to finish clinically.
Town: (4-3-3): Colgan, Atkinson, P Clarke, Cooper, Naysmith, Kay, Gobern, Miller, Cadamateri, Rhodes, Roberts. Subs: Bennett, Novak, McCombe, Sellars, Chippendale, Crooks, Spencer, Thackray, Lee, M Clarke.
Wrexham: Mayebi, Tomassem, Hunt, Harris, Sinclair, Fowler, Cieslewicz, Tolley, Anaorou, Blackburn, Pogba. Subs; Maxwell, Ward, Clowes, Knight-Percival, Ashton, Morrell, Speight, Taylor, Brown, Rushton, Creighton, Penk, Stephens.
Referee: M Pratt.
Attendance: 858.
