Head coach Michael Duff has admitted Joe Hodge is “chomping at the bit” to return to action for Huddersfield Town.
Hodge, on loan from Premier League side Wolves, is back in training and “looking sharp” as he continues his recovery from a groin problem.
Duff explained: “I think Wolves want to see him again in a week. But he is training, modified at the minute, he is on the grass, he is with the lads. He is going in as a floater and things like that. He is looking good. He is looking really sharp and strong.
“He is absolutely chomping at the bit which is why Wolves are sort of slightly hesitant, because he has had this problem before, that he is so desperate to play, he ends up damaging himself. Sometimes, the players are their own worst enemy. So they are just protecting their asset, something we have to respect. We are in constant dialogue with them. I spoke to Steve Davis, their loans manager. He came in a couple of weeks ago and I spoke to him last week. He is probably the next one back in.”
Among the others out injured, Duff said Bojan Radulovic, Lee Nicholls and Antony Evans are “still no nearer”.
One player also not playing as much at the minute is Sorba Thomas, currently on loan at Nantes. Duff was asked if he could be called back but conceded: “I don’t know fully the deal. I think the break clause in the contract is on their end so we can’t call him back. They can send him back if they want to. I think there is a break. There is normally a week(s) in the contract. It’s not something that I have thought too much about.
“Obviously once he went out on loan there was no recall so I don’t know, if I am being honest. We will have to wait and see. It is not our decision. I don’t worry about it. I have got enough decisions to make without worrying about one of the things I am not in control of.”
Christmas is coming which means a hectic schedule for all the players and Duff says it is something they just have to get used to: “It is part of the job. You just get used to it. I think the last three Christmas Days I had, I was in a hotel. It’s part of your life.
“A lot of people say they don’t earn their money. They do. There’s a lot of sacrifice. It’s the best job in the world but it’s also tough. People just see the frilly stuff. They don’t see the commitment, they don’t see the hours and hours on coaches, they don’t see all the work that goes in to get to the level that they are now and it’s just another sacrifice that you have got to make.
“The rest of the country is going out literally eating what they want, drinking what they want and they can’t do it. We have given them a schedule. The information they get now is unbelievable.
“There’s no excuse. It’s the work you do in the shadows when no one is watching. We have them for five or six hours a day, there is another 18. So are they living their lives right? Are they doing the right things? Are they stretching? Are they drinking the right things?
“It’s a brilliant time of year because there is so many games and attendances normally go up but it is tough as well particularly for the ones with younger kids because that’s what Christmas is about really.”
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