SIMON GRAYSON has promised Huddersfield Town fans that creating an entertaining team to watch will be high on his list of priorities over the next couple of years.

The 42-year-old has guided Town into tomorrow’s League I play-off final at Wembley where he’s aiming to win the third managerial promotion of his career and book the club a place in the Championship.

It’s 11 long years since Town dropped out of the second tier of English football and to go back there would cap a remarkable three months at the Galpharm helm for Grayson, who secured promotions to that level with both Blackpool and Leeds United.

He firmly believes his squad have the ability to defeat Sheffield United and follow Charlton and Sheffield Wednesday into the next echelon – where the likes of Bolton, Blackburn, Wolves and Burnley await from the north, along with his former clubs.

It’s an exciting prospect, and Grayson has pledged to provide an attacking, entertaining style going forward, whatever the outcome this weekend.

“My philosophy in football has always been to try and win matches and entertain, never to go out looking for an odd goal, a draw or to be negative,” said the boss.

“I’ve been criticised at times at my previous clubs for maybe conceding too many goals, but we have always scored them as well and had players from midfield netting double figures to back up our leading scorers.

“That’s what I try to do because this is an entertainment business and an entertainment game – and you have to do that because people pay a lot of money to travel around and support the team.

“The key, of course, is to get the right balance between your flair players and those with will work hard, graft with determination and show that they will never to give up.

“Fans love to see those sorts of players as well, the ones who will chase everything and work to the last minute for the cause – and I think we can provide that balance because, at my previous clubs, we have always had the ability to score late goals through making bold decisions and having people grafting away.

“It’s important, too, that everyone shows complete belief in their ability – because that enables you to bring the best out of them.

“If the players show desire and belief then we can go and do it – and over the next couple of years we will be entertaining, I can assure you of that.”

Grayson has no doubt he can handle the high expectations of supporters at Town, and says he wouldn’t have taken the job if that ambition hadn’t been to the forefront of the challenge.

“The football club has got high ambitions and it’s the one thing which grabbed my imagination when I sat down with (chairman) Dean Hoyle and (chief executive) Nigel Clibbens to talk about the prospects of taking the job,” said Grayson.

“The expectancy level is there, and that’s what makes this a fantastic place to be.

“Hopefully we can give back to Dean what he has put into this club – because he is the person that really deserves it, along with the rest of the supporters.

“I understand the expectancy level and it’s great to have it, because we want to make this a really successful end to the season.”

Grayson took the reins from previous manager Lee Clark in February, coincidentally after Town’s 1-0 home defeat by tomorrow’s opponents. Town had, earlier in the season, scored a spectacular 3-0 win at Bramall Lane.

“When you looked in from the outside, as I did before I came here, you looked at the squad and what the team had done over the course of a season and you didn’t think there was too much wrong because the club was in a great position in the league,” said Grayson.

“When you work with players on a daily basis you see certain things – things which I’m sure Lee (Clark) recognised when he was here – and you set about trying to put those things right, so that you can make average players and good players into better players.

“My staff (coaches Ian Miller and Glynn Snodin) are easy going, approachable people but they are hard task masters on the training ground – and that’s because we want players to express themselves.

“We don’t want players to be in the shadow of themselves, we want them to explore their own best capabilities on the football pitch.

“Football is enjoyable, it’s not hard work, so we want the lads to go and express themselves all the time.

“As a staff, we want to find every little bit of ability both individually and collectively to make sure we get the best out of them and, hopefully, bring the season to a successful conclusion.”

So how does this Town squad compare with the ones he took up at Bloomfield Road and Elland Road?

“There’s good quality here,” he said.

“We’ve probably got more players than we need – we’re a little bit top heavy in that sense – which can lead to too much chopping and changing if you are not careful, and then you don’t get the consistency.

“We have got some very technically talented players – Jordan Rhodes is probably the outstanding player in League I – and I had talent at both my previous clubs in the teams that were promoted.

“It was slightly different at Blackpool because we came with a storming finish and went into the play-offs with massive momentum.

“That squad was probably not as talented as this group of players, but all squads are different and it just shows what can be achieved if you show desire and have complete belief in your ability.”