Huddersfield Town's Jaheim Headley on falling back in love with football after early Millwall blow

The 21-year-old's unbridled joy when he struck his first senior Terriers' goal - the winning goal - in the priceless recent victory over Birmingham City was a sight to behold and one of the happier moments in a miserable season for the struggling West Yorkshire club.

A left-sided player blessed with pace and power and ease on the ball, Headley looks a natural talent.

It should come as a surprise then, that the Londoner admits that he very nearly gave up on football in his early teenage years.

He left Millwall as a youngster and some cajolement from family members convinced him to give things another go at the Mass Elite Academy, an organisation which tries to get players back into professional clubs.Huddersfield would call at the age of 16 and the faith shown in him by his family is now starting to pay off.

Southwark-born Headley told The Yorkshire Post: "I was released from Millwall at the age of 14 and then took a solid year out of football and did not really want to play.

"But it was my uncle, brother and cousin who got me back into it. I went to the Mass Elite Academy where a lot of people from where I live (am from) train and play there. I knew the guy who ran it and was kind of close.

"I did a bit of training and they set up fixtures against private academies or showcase matches to showcase yourself and then a club might call you back for a trial and then you go for your trial. There's a few of us (who have earned deals).

"Without football, I don't know what I would be doing."

Headley's route to the first team at Town has certainly been a circuitous one.

Loan spells at several non-clubs including Bradford (Park Avenue), Hyde, Welling and Yeovil preceded a season-long loan stint in the EFL at Harrogate Town.

It was cut short at the start of the new year, but only because Headley's impressive progress convinced Terriers coaching staff that he could be fast-tracked to the first-team picture after a rewarding time with the Sulphurites.

It will not have escaped anyone's attention that Harrogate, like his parent club, are struggling, with Headley anxious that both win their respective survival quests.

He continued: "Staying up would top it off and make it a successful year for me, so I can kick on again and hope Harrogate stay up as well."

Meanwhile, Neil Warnock has set his Terriers side a target of 17 points from their remaining 13 fixtures - with the veteran boss believing that a total of 48 points is likely to be enough for safety.

He said: "The 13 games, I think everyone knows we will probably need to reach at least 48 points, maybe 50 this season. But I think this year might be 48."

Tyreece Simpson should be back in training on Friday after missing last weekend’s trip to face Burnley at Turf Moor, while Anthony Knockaert is also due to train ahead of Saturday's match against Coventry City at the John Smith’s Stadium.