There was no fall-out - Huckerby

[Huckerbys right foot]

Darren Huckerby has set his sights on extending his current deal with Norwich City after angrily dismissing rumours that he's unhappy at Carrow Road.

Last season's top scorer was furious when he read internet gossip claiming that his absence for much of pre-season was down to more than just a niggling groin injury.

And his mood darkened still further when he received several phone-calls from journalists asking for the 'real reason' behind his four-week spell on the sidelines after playing in City's opening friendly of the summer at Yarmouth Town.

Huckerby insists there has been no fall-out with manager Nigel Worthington, and after returning to action in Saturday's final build-up game against Real Mallorca he is now ready to deliver a firm message to the doubters.

First and foremost he wants to make his point on the pitch, starting next weekend when City entertain Crystal Palace in their opening Premiership fixture. But he also was keen to get the matter off his chest before the big kick-off, telling the EDP: "There have been all sorts of rumours flying about that have really annoyed me.

"People are saying that I've had a fall-out with the gaffer which is completely ridiculous. I think it started with a few comments on websites and since then I have a few press people ringing me up.

"We did have one fall-out in the dressing room last season which was mentioned in Robbo's (Iwan Roberts') book and lasted about 25 seconds. That's it. I get on great with the gaffer and I'm really happy at Norwich. I've got two years left here – and I wouldn't mind spending more time here than that.

"I think some people read the bit in the book, saw I wasn't playing in the pre-season games and decided something was going on behind the scenes. That's rubbish.

"The fact of the matter is that I suffered an injury. When I came back from Malaysia I had a scan and it showed that I had torn my abductor muscle. I had no choice but to sit it out."

Huckerby was given 35 minutes of Saturday's final warm-up match and came through with no problems. He is now hoping for a good week on the training pitch before the Premiership opener against Palace.

"The doctor told me it would be two to three weeks so we are on schedule," he said. "I've missed a lot of games but hopefully I'm fit enough to get over that. It might take me a few games to get up to full speed so I'd just ask fans to be patient on that one.

"I'm naturally fit and I've done plenty of running but it's the training and games that I've missed. There's a big difference between running fitness and match fitness.

"It's been a frustrating pre-season for me but these things happen and you've just got to get on with it.

"If the gaffer threw me into the Palace match it wouldn't worry me, It's not ideal but that's life, preparations don't always go exactly to plan. We'll just have to deal with it. All I'm concentrating on now is getting a good week's work on the training pitch. I obviously want to play against Crystal Palace, but it will be up to the gaffer to decide."

Looking a little further ahead Huckerby is under no illusions about the size of the task faced by the Canaries following their glorious march to the Division One title last season. But he insists they are ready for the challenge and are relishing the opportunity to prove a multitude of doubters wrong.

"I'm looking forward to doing my thing in the Premier League again," he said. "It will be great to test ourselves against the top teams but it is going to be a big learning curve. It's not going to be easy, but it's not going to be impossible either. We've got a lot of good, experienced players here – it's not like we are a bunch of kids going into it not knowing what to expect. We'll be ready.

"The papers can say what they like. That's their job, to predict what they think is going to happen. Everyone is entitled to their opinion. It's up to us to get enough points to prove them wrong, it's as simple as that.

"We've just got to stick together. We came a long way last season when everyone doubted us. It will be same this year and hopefully we'll surprise a few people again.

"I think pre-season has gone okay for us. We've worked hard, we're looking fit, that's most important thing at this time of year. I think we should maybe have had a few more wins but it's never easy when you are making so many changes. You can't really judge a team on what they do in pre-season.

The one downside of promotion, as far as Huckerby is concerned, is that a number of last season's heroes will be spending much of their time next term watching the Premiership action from the sidelines. He knows how things work when sides go up – but that hasn't made it any easier for him to accept that certain individuals will no longer be getting a regular game.

"Fans seem to want player after player after player to come in but that's not always the answer," he said. "You've got to realise that the more players you bring in the less players are going to feature from last season which isn't always fair. Of the team that won us the league, five or six of them might hardly get a game. From their point of view it's probably not that great but that's football, and you've just got to deal with it."


Source: Pink'Un


NEWS TO ME ABOUT THIS..BUT GLAD TO SEE HIM LOOKING TO EXTEND HIS CONTRACT ::leedswac