‘We’re not a million miles away from being play-off contenders’

ALEX SMITHIES admits Huddersfield Town have a considerable incentive to end their draw sequence on a winning note at the expense of Watford on Saturday.
Alex SmithiesAlex Smithies
Alex Smithies

The goalkeeper played his part in ninth-placed Town extending their unbeaten league run to five matches in Tuesday night’s 1-1 draw at Middlesbrough. That sequence features four draws, including three on the spin.

The Terriers, beaten just twice in the league this term, round off a hectic run of games at home to the Hornets and after Watford’s 4-0 win the last time they met in January, Smithies feels it is time for payback.

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Smithies said: “We have another big game at home to Watford on Saturday, so we’ll aim for a clean sheet and a win. We definitely owe them one, because they battered us at their place and it damaged our pride.

“It would be nice to change a few of these draws into wins, but it’s good that we’re not being beaten too often.

“Although we feel like we’ve already improved on last season, we are all striving for that little extra edge that would turn us into a team that will be in and around the play-offs.

“I don’t think we are a million miles away.”

While Town can reflect on a positive start to the campaign, Boro, watched by their lowest all-time Riverside league crowd of 12,793, are firmly in the doldrums, having won just four league games in 31 this calendar year.

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Teessider Ben Gibson’s first goal for beleaguered Boro at least rescued something after James Vaughan put Town in front, but he took little consolation from it.

He said: “I understand the tension. I’m a Middlesbrough boy; I’m a fan, I’m the same way myself: desperate to get three points. We all are.”

Town’s highly-regarded teenager Jake Charles has penned a new contract which keeps him at the club until 2017.

The 17-year-old forward, the grandson of former Leeds, Juventus and Wales international John Charles, joined Town’s academy at under-11 level before going on to sign his first professional deal earlier this year, which was due to run until next summer.

Charles is yet to make his first-team debut for the Terriers.