NEW signing Mark Hudson has pushed himself right back up the midfield picking order at Town.
The 24-year-old scored his first goal for the club in last night's 4-0 victory for the second string at Rossendale United.
Hudson started both games in Ibiza but sat out the senior friendly win at Harrogate Town, so it was important for him to impress manager Peter Jackson ahead of tomorrow's trip to Mansfield (7.00).
"I've been a bit disappointed with Mark in training and in our matches, but he showed last night what a quality player he is," said Jackson today.
"He was the most outstanding performer on the pitch and, with what was a very good goal, he showed exactly what he is capable of.
"I was really pleased with him but, having said that, I thought it was a good performance from the team overall.
"And they were delighted to avoid some tough shuttle runs at the end by keeping a clean sheet!"
There's strong competition for midfield places, especially with Lee Fowler's proposed move to Grimsby looking to be dead in the water.
"I spoke to Russell Slade yesterday and it doesn't look like anything will happen with Lee," explained Jackson.
"It could still depend on how Grimsby go with injuries and the like, but at the moment it's dead.
"Lee knows if he stays with us that there are a lot of people ahead of him in the pecking order, so he's going to have to be patient and wait for a chance to do well."
Jackson will take his entire professional staff to Field Mill tomorrow night.
