Huddersfield Daily Examiner

Monk says training time is inadequate

- By DOM HOWSON @examinerHT­AFC

at Town next season under boss Danny Cowley.

He said: “I’d love to play in the Premier League and if I could get there with Huddersfie­ld, even better.

“Every player dreams of the Premier League. I got a taste last year and, hopefully, I’ll get back soon.

“When I joined Huddersfie­ld we played Arsenal and Chelsea in my first two games, it was a big change for me from playing at Charlton.”

Grant revealed he had previously had the chance to work with Cowley when the Town boss was at Lincoln City but rejected the move to Sincil Bank.

“I love the challenge and I’m loving work for the Cowley brothers (manager Danny and assistant Nicky),” said Grant. “I turned them down when they tried to sign me on loan at Lincoln but we’ve had a positive relationsh­ip here.

“It’s been a crazy season but we’re confident we can stay safe.

“We’d been on a good run before the virus struck and have to get back at it.”

SHEFFIELD Wednesday Garry Monk has questioned the Championsh­ip’s proposed restart date, branding the timeframe ‘inadequate’.

Clubs have now returned to contact training ahead of a planned June 20 resumption of the campaign.

Monk insists the current plan does not give players enough time to reach peak fitness again following a two-month lay-off.

“I think everyone was taken aback (by the date),” said Monk.

“We all thought in the back of our minds that going through the communicat­ion we had a couple of weeks ago in the managers’ meeting we had that we would need a minimum of three weeks contact training.

“That is what we asked for and we all knew that we were working at least a week behind the Premier League and we all thought we would be starting a week behind the Premier League.

“The announceme­nt was a huge surprise but it is what it is and I’m not complainin­g about it.

“We want to get back and play games. It has been good to be back in. The players have come back in good condition and clearly followed their home programmes very well. The majority of them are in really good condition and we are looking forward to it.

“But in terms of preparatio­n, it is inadequate for sure.

“If you follow the guidelines that you start training on May 25 like we have, it is inadequate and no manager can tell you any different but we will have to deal with it in the best way possible.”

Although Monk has some sympathy for the EFL, he has voiced his surprise over the lack of communicat­ion from the governing body in the lead up to Sunday’s announceme­nt.

“I think we all understand how difficult it is for the EFL to put this together, send it out to the clubs and give those guidelines,” he said. “It’s an extremely difficult situation for them.

“In terms of the return date, I think if we are honest, we were all taken aback by that. The fact was that there was no prior correspond­ence or consultati­on to that return date, which was surprising for us.”

 ??  ?? Karlan Grant and Town boss Danny Cowley
Town turned down a £15m
offer for Karlan Grant
in January
Karlan Grant and Town boss Danny Cowley Town turned down a £15m offer for Karlan Grant in January

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