HUDDERSFIELD Town boss Simon Grayson wants Chris Atkinson to take the same route to success as Jack Hunt.
Town’s highly-rated right-back established himself in the first team after spending the first half of the 2010-11 season at Chesterfield.
Now midfielder Atkinson is in the squad for tonight’s Championship trip to Middlesbrough after playing 16 games, and scoring five goals, for the League II Spireites.
“It would be great if Chris can do the same thing as Jack has done, and he certainly has the quality to follow his lead,” explained Grayson, who as a teenager growing up in North Yorkshire, both watched Middlesbrough and had trials with them before finally signing for Leeds.
“He has done really well at Chesterfield – we’ve seen DVDs and Glynn Snodin went to watch him in person last week – and he has scored a few goals in a team who are mounting a challenge in League II.
“Given Adam Clayton’s suspension and the doubt over Keith Southern’s (red-card) appeal, it’s great to have Chris back with us.
“You send players out on loan hoping they will come back fitter, stronger and understanding the game more because they have been in matches that mean something.”
Click on the link below for our gallery of Huddersfield Town fans who made the trip to Charlton: Are you pictured?
Halifax-born Town academy product Atkinson has made four Town appearances, one of them under Grayson, who added: “I brought him on as a substitute at home to Scunthorpe last season and he also played in the friendly against Barcelona B.
“I would have no worries about picking him because I like him as a player. He has got a lot of good qualities and he has a great attitude, and the experience of League II will prove beneficial.
“Jack Hunt came back from Chesterfield and established himself and Chris certainly has the potential to do the same.
“He is level-headed, he has a good physique, he handles the ball well and he has great energy, getting up and down the pitch and scoring a few goals.”
Grayson will be wary of a Middlesbrough backlash after they were beaten 3-1 at home to Bristol City on Saturday.
“They will be desperate to bounce back,” he said.
“They are a good footballing side who are capable of passing it around through the various sections of the team.
“They have some very good players, and we have to go up there, play collectively as a team and be hard to beat.”
