Huddersfield Town: Rhodes determined not to get distracted from his main targets INTERVIEW

The 22-year-old is rightly considered one of the hottest properties in the Football League but on Tuesday night he had rarely had a sniff of the ball as newly-promoted Huddersfield Town were given a footballing lesson.

Such had been the dominance shown by Nottingham Forest, in fact, that the supply line to Rhodes seemed to have been severed beyond repair.

That was, however, until Jack Hunt darted into the Forest penalty area to tempt a reckless challenge from Dan Harding that left referee Neil Swarbrick with no option but to point to the penalty spot.

Cue Rhodes finally being afforded a chance to shine and, typically, he took it with aplomb with a spot-kick drilled low to the right of Lee Camp that bounced into the net off the inside of the post to rescue a point for Town.

Typically, the modest Huddersfield striker was quick to credit his team-mates for the manner in which they dug in against Forest.

But the cool manner in which the late, late spot-kick was despatched on a night when Rhodes had been effectively starved of service will surely not have gone unnoticed by his growing list of suitors.

“I try to let it go over my head,” said the striker of the speculation over his future amid interest from Fulham, West Ham United, Wigan Athletic and Blackburn Rovers.

“It is quite easy when you have matches to concentrate on, combined with training and the lads around you. I don’t really pay attention to the ’papers or watch too much Sky Sports News. I just live life as normal.

“This is a tremendous football club; I have many friends here and it is a great changing room, which makes it so much easier.”

On the manner in which Town stuck to their task despite being very much second best to an impressive Forest outfit, Rhodes added: “A few times the defenders chucked their bodies on the line, such as the chance in the first half for Dexter Blackstock.

“First, Alex (Smithies) saved it and his second chance only hit the bar because Adam Clayton slung his body at it and deflected it for a corner.

“It was just a matter of staying in the game and that will happen at times this season. The other night at Cardiff (when Town lost 1-0 to a stoppage time goal) I thought we played really well and didn’t get the rub of the green.

“So, against Forest, we got that little bit of fortune at the end after being largely second best. That’s football for you.”

Rhodes’s dramatic late penalty means he now has two goals in as many games for club and country this season after he netted against Australia for Scotland last week.

With Burnley due at the John Smith’s Stadium on Saturday, Huddersfield are now targeting their first win of the season.

And Rhodes, for one, believes the Terriers have shown enough battling qualities in their opening two games to make an impact on the club’s return to the Championship after an 11-year absence.

He said: “We would like to think we have shown people we can compete. Over the course of the season, we will put in better and worse performances than against Forest.

“But, at times, we will have to show grit and stay in there and I am sure the fans, home or away, will appreciate the effort we’re putting in.

“It would be nice to get the win on Saturday. A win, a loss and a draw would sum up the start to the season.

“It would be great to get off the mark for wins and, hopefully, we will have a really good crowd for the first home Saturday game.

“It should be a good, competitive game against a tough Burnley side and I’m sure the fans will be right behind us, so we’d like to reward them.

“Our supporters were great against Forest, who were playing some good football so at times it must have been a bit frustrating for our fans.

“But we stuck to our game plan against a good side and I thought we were on top for the last 10 minutes.

“The fans got behind us and gave us a bit of a lift – a bit of energy and momentum – and we got our just rewards.”

On his goal tally of two from two games, Rhodes, who netted 48 for club and country last term, added: “It’s nice to have two in two at the start of the season – I can’t complain at that.

“I was just delighted to see it (the penalty) go in. We kept plugging away and fortunately we managed to squeeze one in.”