TOWN MAY BE ON THE RIGHT RHODES

RETURN HOME COULD FIRE JORDAN BACK TO GLORY DAYS

JORDAN Rhodes could prove that returning to a former club can be a success.

The Sheffield Wednesday forward is expected to re-sign for the Terriers this summer.

Danny Ward has found his second spell at the John Smith’s Stadium tough.

The Town striker has been a victim of fans’ underwhelming memories of him being played out of position on the wing as a young man, and from the moment of his return to the club last summer, he has been the subject of criticism from supporters that ranges from the disappointed to the inappropriate.

Ward has not been able to prove those doubters wrong.

Injuries have limited him to just five league starts this season, three of which have been the 5-0 defeat to Bournemouth, the 7-0 defeat to Norwich and the 5-2 defeat at Blackburn.

Rhodes looks set to return when his Sheffield Wednesday contract expires at the end of the season, bringing a pretty bleak four-and-ahalf years there to an end.

He left Town with an incredible record of 87 goals in 148 games, most of which were in League

One.

He went close to maintaining that record in the Championship after securing a big-money move to Blackburn

Rovers.

But it all started going wrong after he moved to Middlesbrough in 2016 – he did well enough at first, but promotion to the Premier League proved a step too far – and his stint with the Owls has proved even less successful, with a record of just 17 goals in 93 appearances telling the story of a striker in decline.

There was a brief spell after Darren Moore arrived as Wednesday boss when it looked like Rhodes just needed a real run in the side to get going as he scored four times in five starts to suggest there were still goals in him yet.

In many ways, Rhodes is in the opposite boat to Ward as he sails back towards the John Smith’s

Stadium – the memories are there, but the recent evidence is unconvincing.

Still just 31 years old, Rhodes will be hoping to prove that his spell at Hillsborough is a mere sizeable blot on his copybook; that he’s just never quite fitted in to their system or found form for myriad reasons, and that he might be better suited back on the happiest hunting ground of his career.

But like Ward, he will face something of a battle to win over a chunk of the Terriers fanbase.