The Insider: Duane Holmes

DUANE HOLMES has a lot of potential which didn’t get fully realised at Huddersfield.

That, partly, may be down to him not quite developing how Huddersfield wanted him to, and partly circumstance.

There’s definitely something there, though, and he’s an exciting player.

With Huddersfield getting promoted, strengthening the team and managerial changes, it’s been difficult for him.

He didn’t really feature at all under Chris Powell and that was a fallow period for him.

But he’s been around and about the first team for a while now.

Mark Robins gave him his debut in a League Cup game at Hull and he featured quite a bit in the 2013-14 season.

He looked very promising playing in about a dozen games, but tailed back a bit as youngsters often do.

So he went on loan to Yeovil but it didn’t work that well. He found it quite hard to settle there as a young kid.

He’s fast and, for his size, quite a resilient player. He seems to bounce off people.

In the Championship, against big midfielders, sometimes he struggled to compete, but he’s game, plucky and stands up for himself.

His under-21 team won the Professional Development League 2 play-off and he was head and shoulders above everyone else when he featured for them.

You could tell he’d played senior football with the way he dictated play.

There is so much potential with him.

He’s pretty much a box-to-box midfielder but he’s played a few different midfield roles now.

He’s probably got a few more goals in him than he’s shown, though he’s not afraid to have a shot.

When David Wagner came in they changed the system completely and replicated it in the under-21s.

So Duane moved about a bit to see how he fitted into various different roles.

He’s had quite a bit of experience in different positions, even as a defensive midfielder.

Duane was popular with the Huddersfield fans after coming through the ranks at the club.

He’s also popular around the club, a bubbly sort of lad who’s good to deal with.

His dream is to play for the USA where he was born, but he’s pretty much a Yorkshire lad. He’s also into his cricket and plays for a Huddersfield League club, so he’s something of a dying breed in being a footballer and cricketer.

We’ve always thought he would make it here but, for one reason or another, it’s not worked out.

Everyone here speaks highly of him and would love to see him go on, prove himself and be a success.