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 part of last season, and went on to feature 20 times for Town in their unsuccessful battle against the drop.

The Terriers finished the season second from bottom in the Championship, ending up six points inside the drop zone, and now face a first League One campaign since 2012. The spell was Matos’ first senior loan, and despite the disappointment of the outcome of the campaign, 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 objective 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 really good experience and I learned a lot.

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

“It was tough at the start, but gradually I adapted to my new living environment and learned to live by myself. Fortunately, my family came to pretty much every home game that I played and they were really supportive of me.

“I really enjoyed my time there. The stadium, the supporters, the people and staff – everyone welcomed me as soon as I got to the club. I’m 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 sought to rectify a disappointing first half of the campaign. While Matos and Spencer played regularly, fellow recruits Bojan Radulovic, Rhys Healey and Radinio Balker weren’t able to feature consistently during the second half of the season.

At Michael Duff’s unveiling, sporting director Mark Cartwright acknowledged the difficulties of recruiting players in January that will go on to make an immediate impact. However, with Cartwright believing that Matos gave “everything in the shirt” during his time at the club, the sporting director insists that Town will be looking to bring in like-minded characters during the upcoming window.

Reflecting on the club’s transfer business, Cartwright said last month: “January’s a very difficult market, because you’re normally getting players that haven’t played a lot, or if they have played, they’ve then had a lengthy break before they’re coming to you.

“Unfortunately, if you haven’t played a lot or if you’ve had a break, and then you’re suddenly thrown into the cut and thrust of the Championship, there’s every chance you’re going to break down. You’re trying to build them up, but we weren’t in a position where you could build them up week by week, we literally had to throw people in, because we needed to see results, and obviously the likes of Rhys and Radinio got significant injuries, and that was because of the situation we were in.

“January’s a month where you should only really be tweaking the squad with one or two, we had to bring in five if you include Brodie coming back. That’s major changes, that shows you that there’s issues going on that you’ve got to try and change. I think with a proper pre-season, we’ll see the best of these players moving forward.

“Obviously Alex Matos has gone back, so it’ll be a shame to see him [go], because he did give everything in the shirt, he did want to do that. It’s more people like that that we’re going to bring in.”