Predictions are looking good for Town’s survival
summer, getting back to the training ground couldn’t have come soon enough.
“I’d been ringing the physio and the manager every other day and asking if we could come back early, I was champing at the bit to get back,” said Elphick.
“While it was a bit different with all the protocols we have in place at training right now it was just brilliant to be back there and to get on the grass, even for some light work.
“It’s been tough for everyone during the lockdown and I’d been doing my rehab at home with a two-year-old and a five-month-old, so that was interesting. My twoyear-old daughter would often wander in and be intrigued by what I was doing, but it’s been great to spend so much time with my family and I’ve never appreciated my wife so much!”
While the return of football in the top two tiers in England might not have been met with unanimous agreement, for Elphick it is something that is a positive.
Town are set to resume their Championship campaign on June 20 and while Elphick’s injury means he won’t be involved for the remainder of this season, he believes the return of action is the right thing for everyone.
“It’s just my personal opinion and I’m sure others will have different views but I think the lockdown lift for football came at the right time,” he said.
“It’s been terrible what’s gone on but we’re moving forward now and the world has to keep on turning and we have to try and edge back to a new normal at some stage.
“Football is such a part of our communities and gives people such a lift that I hope the return will help people, give them a little bit of a lift even if they can’t be at the games just yet.
“If that’s what we as footballers can contribute then that is a good thing in my view.”
Elphick won’t be back this season but the halting of the season has given him that extra time to get back fit and raring to go for when the 2020/21 campaign gets underway.
“I suppose the suspension has helped me in terms of having more time to get ready for pre-season,” said Elphick.
“There is a big difference between being fit and fit to compete at a high level.
“I know what I am like as a person and if pre-season would have been coming round in two or three weeks I would have been doing everything to get back and push myself to be in contention.
“But you can’t cut corners with these type of injuries and at least when pre-season comes around I’ll be ready.”
THERE are nine games left to complete for all 24 teams when the Championship gets back underway following the enforced break due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Huddersfield Town and the rest of English football’s second tier are set to restart on June 20, with 27 points at stake and everything still to be sorted at both ends of the division.
Danny Cowley’s Terriers sit three points above the relegation zone in 18th and still have plenty of work to do to ensure they are playing Championship football again next season.
But Town were in decent form before the season was halted in March and they will be looking to get the job done as soon as possible.
Games against Wigan
Athletic, Nottingham Forest,
Birmingham City, Preston North End, Reading, Luton
Town, West Bromwich Albion and Millwall are all still outstanding.
We had a go at predicting the results of these games using our neat predictor tool - and it’s good news for Town, as our predicted final league table shows.
We have Town getting back to winning ways quickly at the John Smith’s Stadium against a Wigan side two places below them before a defeat at a promotion-chasing Nottingham Forest the game after.
Then comes a creditable draw on the road at Birmingham City before a surprise victory against play-off chasers Preston at the John Smith’s Stadium.
A draw at mid-table Reading follows before a home win against a side mired in the relegation zone, Luton.
Then comes some disappointment at Hillsborough in the shape of defeat to Yorkshire rivals Wednesday, but Town rally to pick up an excellent point at titlechasing West Brom before they round off the season in London with three points at Millwall.
All of these results, combined with what we have predicted elsewhere, would see Town finish on 57 points, 12 clear of the drop in 16th and with Charlton Athletic, Luton Town and Barnsley falling into League One.
We’ll see how close we get, but we’d take this, right?