RUFF TIMES ARE IN THE PAST

JOSH Ruffels assumed he had a common-or-garden hernia when he felt a twinge in a game against Watford last season.

- Chris Dunlavy

A quick surgery. A bit of rehab. Six weeks and he'd be back to help keep Huddersfield in the Championship.

Yet it is now 13 months and counting since the 31-year-old last started a league game for the Terri ers.

A combination of groin and hernia problems required a more extensive operation and in January doctors ordered the former Oxford left-back to sit out the remainder of the campaign to focus on his recovery.

Forgotten

While Ruffels battled for fitness, Huddersfield were relegated and two managers - Darren Moore and Andre Breitenreiter bit the dust.

The upshot was that by the time he returned for pre-season, Ruffels was a forgotten man with little to no part in the thought process of new gaffer Michael Duff.

"I tried to be as positive as I could," says Ruffels, who started his career with Coventry and made over 300 appearances for Oxford before joining the Terriers in 2021.