Town Boss Gerry Murphy On Tomorrow

Last updated : 16 March 2007 By Thetashkentterror
Andy Booth - back in contention
Terriers caretaker-manager Gerry Murphy, who was speaking to the Huddersfield Examiner and official Town club website, talked about the game against the Blues at Brunton Park tomorrow afternoon. Murphy, who took over the hot-seat at the Galpharm Stadium after the sacking of Peter Jackson ten days ago, commenting on the need for someone in his side to show some leadership :


"Carlisle will be the home team and they have a good record there. They will come at us and it is up to us suss them out and take it from there. It's a cliché that we are looking forward to the next game, but in our case that really is the case. If we can keep putting the points on the board then let's see what happens. It's up to other people as well, but if we can go out and get three points this Saturday, that's all that we are looking for at the moment.

"It is very likely that Andy Booth will be available this weekend. Aaron Hardy is still struggling and Chris Brandon is too. Brandon has an Achilles problem and just needs to rest a couple of days because it's a recurring thing. Hardy is near, but not quite ready and the two Clarke brothers are also still out.

"Martin (McIntosh) was in the 16 last week, and both he and Mark (Hudson) are in the travelling squad for Carlisle. Mark impressed me when he played for the reserves last week. And his attitude in general since I took over has been first class. He's worked very hard in training and it's clear from his attitude that he desperately wants another chance at this club.

"The victory last week against Bradford has given everybody a huge lift. There's nothing like winning to breed confidence and everybody has been very positive this week. In its simplest terms, football is about two things, what you do when you have the ball and what you do when you don't. You have to make the right decisions in both cases, and players talking to each other helps hugely. It's crucial to keep shape and keep doors shut when defending, and I'm looking for eleven leaders out there.

"If I have a criticism of the squad, it's that we don't have enough leaders, but it's an area in which we can certainly improve. It's especially vital tomorrow, because Carlisle have a decent home record. After last week, there's no reason why we shouldn't be playing with a bit of confidence, and we have to impose ourselves on the game. We've certainly got the ability to be higher up in the table. Now we have to show it on the pitch."


Meanwhile Barnsley-loanee striker Paul Hayes commented :

"It's going to be tough. At this time of the season, it's always going to be tough, because so many teams are either fighting for promotion or fighting against relegation. Carlisle have done really well. They've been promoted twice on the bounce and looking to do it again, so it'll be a very hard game. Most teams who do come up do well and their season is a flyer because they still have all of their players and are up for it. Even harder is the fact that it's at their place. It's a big pitch, good fan base - it's going to be a very hard game. But if we perform as well as we did against Crewe and Bradford we have a good chance."


In Terriers team news brothers Nathan and Tom Clarke will miss the match as both of the defenders are suffering from knee injuries. Chris Brandon is also out with an achilles/ankle problem, as is youngster James Hand who has severe toothache at the moment. Aaron Hardy is another player out of the Town reckoning tomorrow as the defender recovers from an ankle injury. Also unavailable is centre-half John McCombe who moved to League Two strugglers Boston United on loan for a month this week.

In better squad news for the visitors, ex-Blues keeper Matty Glennon will play after having an injection in a troublesome finger injury while veteran striker Andy Booth is also available after recovering from a recent calf problem. Meanwhile Jon Worthington, who had missed the previous six games because of a groin operation, came through the Bradford game last weekend without a problem and is likely to feature in central midfield.


The referee for tomorrow's match is our old pal Scott Mathieson from Stockport in Cheshire, and he will be assisted down the lines by Paul Curry from Morpeth in Northumberland and Brian Parry from Peterlee in County Durham. Meanwhile the fourth official will be farmer Russell Tiffin from Houghton-le-Spring, again in County Durham.