Huddersfield Town star admits club has ‘gone backwards a lot’ but explains reasons for optimism

Lee Nicholls has given an honest assessment of the team

Huddersfield Town goalkeeper Lee Nicholls has expressed his desire to see the club return to competing for a place in the Premier League after acknowledging that the Terriers have “gone backwards a lot” in recent seasons.

Three-and-a-half years ago, Town ended the 2021/22 campaign in third place in the Championship and were beaten in the play-off final by Nottingham Forest, denying them a return to the top flight, where they spent two seasons between 2017 and 2019.

Since then, Town embarked on two relegation battles, the latter ending in demotion to the third tier, while the Terriers were unable to sustain a promotion push in League One last term, ending the campaign in tenth place.

Town currently sit sixth in the League One table, and Nicholls, who joined the club in 2021 ahead of their Championship promotion push, said at a recent press conference: “Since I signed, I feel like we were at the top, we were 90 minutes from the Premier League, and then since then it’s gone backwards a lot.

“I think part of my story, I’d like it to be the next step to get back to the Premier League, and try and get back to where we were.

“With the chairman (Kevin Nagle), the way he’s investing money, he’s bought the stadium and he’s doing all the right things behind the scenes, and then Jake (Edwards, CEO) with the way he’s recruited, and the way the gaffer (Lee Grant) is and the coaches are, and the way the feel is around the training ground, I feel like it’s going in the right direction.

“It’s over to us now to get the fans on side, and keep growing as a team, and keep causing teams problems, and hopefully we can become that team that people don’t want to play against.

“When I signed, I didn’t know whether I was going to come straight in and play, and as soon as I signed, the fans welcomed me and got behind me and backed me, and I feel like I’d like my next step in my story to be the promotion.”

Despite Town having had a disappointing few seasons, Nicholls opted to extend his stay with the Terriers by signing a new contract last month that runs until 2028, and the goalkeeper added: “I haven’t been quiet about how much I love the club.

“The gaffer’s come in and the gaffer asked me to stay quite early, and over the coming weeks after that, I’ve seen the lads we’ve brought in and the way the gaffer is and coaches are, and I am of the belief that the gaffer’s a really, really good manager.

“He’s brought the right coaches in, he’s brought the right lads in, and I think we can do something, and I think the club’s going back in the right direction now.

“It just made sense for me to stay. I think the gaffer wants to play the right way, and I think for me personally, it was the right decision to make for me and my family.”

Nicholls penned his deal despite initially losing his place in the side to summer recruit Owen Goodman, and boss Lee Grant said at a recent press conference: “If there was any inkling from me that we had a player in the building that wasn’t willing to challenge and fight for the right to play every week, then I wouldn’t have wanted them with us, let alone offer them a new contract.

“Obviously I’ve made it very clear to Lee very early on that I wanted him with us, and my hope was that he would sign a new contract with us as well.

“He signed that contract and entered into those discussions without any guarantee from me on ‘you’re going to get this shirt back at some point’, because I refuse to give either Lee or Owen a guarantee on that, or anyone else by the way.

“I do like the fact that somebody’s willing to work really hard, be a really good teammate around the building, support Owen.

“Because of the way you work every day and the closeness of that group (the goalkeeper unit), you’re forced into ‘right, I’m here for the team and support the group, and my biggest rival, I have to support them’, or probably you fall by the wayside.

“Obviously Lee went the other way, and really went into ‘full work hard, support, do what I can for the team when I’m given the opportunity’ mode, which then just leaves you in a better position for when your opportunity comes, and his opportunities came by hook or by crook, and he’s taking it at the moment.”