Luton v Huddersfield Town: Radinio Balker on his common ground with good friend Bojan Radulovic

Radinio Balker and Bojan Radulovic’s time at Huddersfield Town has been far from plain sailing since joining a club who were ripe for relegation from the Championship in the 2024 winter window and heading in the wrong direction.

Adjusting to the intensity of English football proved hard for the duo, with some untimely injury issues thrown into the mix.

Factor in the club's difficulties in negotiating League One last season and it's fair to say that their dual moves to this country have hardly worked out in the way they envisaged.

Finally, there appears to be some light at the end of the tunnel for both.

Handed his chance in Town’s forward line, Radulovic is taking his opportunity with both hands and has scored in his last four outings in all competitions.

Finally getting over his own injury ailments, Suriname international defender Balker is starting to show the class at the back which he had hirtherto displayed all too sporadically since joining Town from Dutch football.

It's a welcome mini-renaissance for the good friends, who have shared the tough times together at Town.

Balker, who has started Town's last three matches, said: "We were talking about that.

"I think last year, Bojan was playing a lot. I was playing, but I didn't really feel like myself. We weren't really doing the same things we're doing right now.

"Outside of football, you also need to have something that you can look forward to. And right now, we have a good group where we do fun things outside of football, which is just as important as doing good on the pitch.

"And with that, we are sharing that together and I think we can help each other."

Providing some payback is also in the pair's thoughts.

Balker continued: "Of course, it's still early days, it's only two or three games, but it's a start and hopefully we can continue that.

"I remember we both came in at the same time and I don't think we have really shown what we can do.

"And we were also relegated last year, which wasn't the best.

"So I feel like we really want to help the team and with helping the team, you also help yourself out at the end."

Should Town win by two goals at Luton and Stevenage lose to Peterborough, then Lee Grant's side will move back into the automatic positions.

As it stands, just six points separate Luton, in 12th, from leaders Cardiff. It has all the makings of the tightest League One in years, not that Grant is paying any particular attention to the standings at the minute. It's a wise stance.

Grant commented: "I've not looked, I'm pretty certain things may become clearer in the new year. Sustaining a high performance level, the intensity we're showing and consistency in our mentality are the things that are really high on my agenda. "Everything else will take care of itself."