Chelsea loanee reveals ‘great experience’ in tough Huddersfield Town environment

Former Huddersfield Town midfielder Alex Matos has described his loan spell at the club as a “great experience” despite being part of a relegation campaign. The 19-year-old joined the Terriers on loan from Chelsea for the second half of last season and featured 20 times for Town in their unsuccessful fight against the drop.

The Terriers finished the season second from bottom in the Championship, finishing six points off the drop zone, and now face a first campaign in League One since 2012. The spell was Matos’ first senior loan and despite the disappointment campaign result, the midfielder reflects positively on his time at the John Smith’s Stadium.

“It was good for me. I played a lot of games, got a lot of minutes and it was a great experience for me,’ Matos told his club’s website. “My goal was to go out and play a lot of minutes in a good league in the Championship. Despite the disappointment of relegation, it was a very good experience and I learned a lot.

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“Every point means something, every goal means something and it’s extremely important. It’s a tough environment but the senior players at Huddersfield have helped me a lot and I’ve learned a lot from them. Players like Jonathan Hogg were great and they were really good guys.

“It was hard at first, but gradually I adapted to my new living environment and learned to live alone. Luckily my family came to almost every game I played at home and they really supported me.

“I really enjoyed my time there. The stadium, the fans, the people and the staff – everyone welcomed me as soon as I arrived at the club. I am very grateful for the experience.”

Matos was one of four signings made by the Terriers in the January transfer window, with the club also opting to recall Brodie Spencer from his loan spell at Motherwell as Town looked to make amends for a disappointing first half of the campaign. While Matos and Spencer played regularly, fellow recruits Bojan Radulovic, Rhys Healey and Radinio Balker failed to feature consistently in the second half of the season.

At Michael Duff’s unveiling, sporting director Mark Cartwright acknowledged the difficulties of recruiting players in January who will have an immediate impact. However, with Cartwright believing Matos has given “everything in the shirt” during his time at the club, the sporting director insists Town will look to bring in like-minded figures in the coming term.

Reflecting on the club’s transfer business, Cartwright said last month: “January is a very difficult market because normally you get players who haven’t played a lot or if they have played then had a long break before they come to you

“Unfortunately, if you haven’t played much or had a break, and then you’re suddenly thrown into the realm of the Championship, there’s every chance you’ll crash. You try to build them but we weren’t in a position where you could build them week in week out, we had to throw people in because we needed to see results and obviously the likes of Rhys and Radinio. he sustained significant injuries and that was because of the situation we were in.

“January is a month where you should only change the squad by one or two, we had to bring in five if you include Brodie’s return. These are big changes that show you that there are problems that you need to try to change. I think with a proper pre-season we will see the best of these players move on.

“Obviously Alex Matos is back, so it will be a shame to see him, because he gave everything in the shirt, he wanted to do it. We will bring more people like that.”