LEE CLARK has hailed defender Dean Heffernan’s thirst for knowledge as the Town new boy prepares for his first Leeds derby.
The 29-year-old’s bid to get the better of his fellow Australian international Patrick Kisnorbo will form a fascinating sub-plot in today’s all-ticket clash at the Galpharm (12.30).
The pair hope to be playing alongside each other in this summer’s World Cup finals in South Africa, yet will be big rivals this lunchtime.
Promotion-chasing Town have kept clean sheets in half of the six matches in which left-back has featured, and he has yet to taste defeat.
And Clark, who signed Sydney-born Heffernan from Australian club Central Coast Mariners during the January transfer window, is desperate that boast is extended.
Town, sixth in League I before today’s clash, aim to make it four wins in a row and stretch their unbeaten league run to 11 against the second-placed Whites.
Heffernan and his fellow new arrival Neal Trotman, the on-loan Preston centre-back, have helped Clark’s side keep successive clean sheets, and the boss said: “I’m pleased with them both.
“Dean’s an experienced player, but that doesn’t affect his desire to learn even more. He trains with intensity and listens all the time.
“It’s common to a lot of Australian sportsman that they want to continue developing and be the absolute best they can, and Dean is like that.”
Former Hearts and Leicester player Kisnorbo, 28, is back from an Achilles tendon injury, and former Town manager Andy Ritchie reckons he’s making an impact.
Writing in his Football League website blog, Ritchie, a former Leeds player who now watches them regularly as a radio pundit, noted: “Kisnorbo’s absence has played a huge part in Leeds’ poor run in my view.
“He’s been outstanding all season, and alongside Richard Naylor, forms the most dominant centre-back pairing in League I.
“Now he’s back to full fitness, I expect to see more solidity in Simon Grayson’s team.”
Neither Heffernan nor Kisnorbo feature in the latest Australia squad to take on Indonesia in Brisbane on Wednesday, with coach Pim Verbeek deciding against picking European-based players for the country’s final Asian Cup qualifier.
The Socceroos need a point to seal their place at next January’s tournament in Qatar.
The World Cup runs from June 11 to July 11.
