Graeme Bailey catches up with Jordan Rhodes as he gears up for the biggest day of his footballing career to date.
Huddersfield starlet talks exclusively to skysports.com
Graeme Bailey catches up with Scotland starlet Jordan Rhodes as he gears up for the biggest day of his footballing career to date.
Rhodes is one of the most feared strikers in England, outside the Premier League, and he has been rewarded with a call-up to the senior Scottish squad after starring for Billy Stark's Under-21s.
The Huddersfield Town striker has bagged 13 goals in just 15 appearances this season, making him one of the most talked about players in English football.
Rhodes is one of those players who has come through the system, but his earlier career was shaped by somebody else's footballing life - his goalkeeper dad Andy.
Rhodes followed his dad to Ipswich after being part of the Barnsley youth set-up, and the rest is history...
"My dad got relocated with his job, as is a footballers life," Rhodes told
skysports.com.
"You move about everywhere, that is what happens in this business, Joe Royle gave him the job there and I moved down from Barnsley.
"Barnsley, rightly or wrongly as you look at it, got compensated so both parties were happy, that was ages ago and I knew there was still lots of hard work to do, as I still have.
"I have always been very grateful for the coaches at Ipswich for what they have done, they have got a great record for bringing through young players such as Titus Bramble, Kieron Dyer, Darren Bent and Darren Ambrose - they have brought through some tremendous talents, but also the Barnsley coaches for the hard work they put in with me.
"I have got so much respect and admiration for Ipswich, I didn't know what it would be like at 15 moving down, but I settled down in school - as I wanted to keep that going just in case I didn't get taken on, but luckily I went to a great club with a great academy."
Loans
Rhodes spent time on loan in the lower leagues with Oxford, Rochdale and Brentford and he admits that was an essential part of his learning curve in football.
"I certainly think, being a youngster, it helps going out and getting football - Oxford especially," he explained.
"As a 17-year-old getting a few bumps and bruises off the centre-halves made me more aware of the defenders and the physical nature of men's football so being out on loan was a great opportunity for me."
After his loan moves and few first-team chances at Ipswich, Huddersfield came calling for Rhodes and, after spending time in South Yorkshire, he knew what was on offer.
"I was aware of how Huddersfield were going about their work, I have always been aware of them as I lived in Barnsley, and I knew what they were about, but as soon as I had a word with the manager and chairman, they told me about their ambitions, their plans and they made me feel wanted and to get that chance was great," he said.
"It is a tremendous club with a really big fan-base, it is a Premier League standard club - the manager and chairman have got ambitions to get to the next level and you only have to look at League One, you have the Sheffield clubs, Charlton, and Norwich and Southampton were here not long ago - you do find big clubs at this level and it would be a dream come true for us to make it like they have.
"We have still got lots of hard work to do, I think it is a collective effort - the coaching staff, the chairman - we lost a couple of players in pre-season - Lee Peltier and Anthony Pilkington - but we brought in about
