Departing Jon Gorenc Stankovic still part of Huddersfield Town's 2019-20 plans says manager Danny Cowley

The Terriers wanted to keep the defender by extending his contract and an option his contract allowed them to do so, but in the present uncertainty they felt unable to do so.

A number of Championship and Premier League players have chosen not to finish the season because their contracts expired on June 30 and they did not want to jeopardise their next move, and many clubs told players who would not commit beyond that they were not needed for the first few games of the season's resumption.

But Cowley will not exile Stankovic, who signed a short-term deal to see the 2019-20 campaign out before moving to Austria as a free agent.

“We think an awful lot of Jon as a professional,” he said. “He's been fantastic since we've been here. He's such a diligent, conscientious boy, a young player and we see so much potential in him.

“We were desperately keen to try to keep him but it wasn't possible and that's no fault of anybody's. It's just where we are as a club at the moment, in terms of our position in the league and this unprecedented situation.

“We're not in a position where we can offer new contracts so someone like Jon, who we had an option on, we weren't able to take it.

“That is disappointing not just for me but for everybody at the club. We all feel that but we have to accept that's where we're at.”

Huddersfield will make the trip to Birmingham City in the Championship relegation zone with seven matches to play.

That only compounds the uncertainty caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Clubs do not know when fans will be allowed back into their stadia, and Terriers chairman Phil Hodgkinson has revealed their parachute payment from the Premier League has been cut.

“We’ve lost some of our parachute payments, we’re having to give some of that back, we’re not receiving all of it, and that’s permanent, not temporary,” revealed Hodgkinson recently.

Stankovic only started 24 league matches in his four years at Huddersfield, 11 this season, but Cowley is a fan of the 24-year-old.

“I'm not surprised Jon has been able to find a club so quickly because he's a really good young player who in different circumstances would have played a lot more for us,” he said. “Credit to him because he could easily have walked away now he has a new team to play for next season and prepare for their season but he wants to see this through because the club means a lot to him and he's thankful of the opportunity he's had.

“Also he's just a really good human being who wants to see it to its fruition.

“I've 100 per cent trust in him as a human being and if and when we need him, we will use him.”

Meanwhile, Steve Mounie and Fraizer Campbell have returned to training, putting them in contention for Wednesday's game at St Andrew's.

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