Huddersfield Town centre-back Tommy Elphick has been deployed as a scout for the club while he recovers from his season-ending knee injury.

Elphick signed for the Terriers in the summer and instantly became an important member of their defence, with his form building steadily under new manager Danny Cowley in September. 

The former Bournemouth defender was an integral part to the side’s long unbeaten run that saw them climb off the bottom of the table and out of the relegation zone. However, when the run came to an end at Preston North End, Elphick was forced off with a cruciate ligament injury in his knee, ruling him out for the season.

Since then, Huddersfield have stuttered in the league as they fail to make a sizeable gap between themselves and the bottom three heading into the New Year.

Last time out, Huddersfield faced Middlesbrough at the Riverside obviously without Elphick and fell to a 1-0 defeat but Elphick has still had chance to make an impact at the club in his time on the sidelines.

The Terriers face Blackburn Rovers on Sunday at the John Smith’s Stadium and ahead of the game, Elphick was deployed as a scout alongside the Cowley brothers.

Speaking to the Examiner, Danny Cowley had this to say on the centre-back’s newfound role: "Nicky and I went on Monday to the Blackburn vs Wigan game and Tommy Elphick came with us, along with Craig, one of our performance analysts.

"So there were four of us there, watching the game and studying the game - trying to have a good look at Blackburn."

Can you name every Huddersfield Town player of the year for the past 15 seasons?

The Verdict

It’s a great move by the club to keep Elphick involved in first-team matters while he sits out with injury as a lot of players suffer mentally from being cast out when they face long injury setbacks.

Blackburn, like Huddersfield, will be looking to put a disappointing result behind them as Birmingham City pegged the Rovers back on Boxing Day to draw 1-1.

Elphick is a huge loss on the pitch but his influence on the side clearly runs much deeper than that as he still has a part to play.