Martin Drury is a straight-talking man, open about the fact it was never in his plans to become a head coach. Granted, he was in charge of Bradford Park Avenue in the National League North for much of 2015/16, but that came quite shortly after his retirement and he soon disappeared into the background. Over the next decade, he built a coaching career that took in spells at Boston United, Bradford City, Manchester United, West Brom and Valencia.

Now at Huddersfield - the team of the town in which he was born - he is in charge in his own right. An interim spell from March led to a two-year deal in May. Here, he tells Sky Sports about his journey from La Liga to the Premier League to plotting the Terriers' way out of League One.

Drury met Carlos Corberan while he was at Bradford and the Spaniard was at Leeds. The two began to work together in August 2024 when Drury was appointed individual coach at West Brom. Corberan left for Valencia on Christmas Eve 2024 and Drury followed within a matter of days after being appointed as his assistant. A Championship play-off push was sacrificed for the challenge of keeping Los Murcielagos in La Liga.

They almost had the perfect start, leading Real Madrid at the Mestalla until the 85th minute on January 3 2025, when Luka Modric levelled and Jude Bellingham scored the 96th-minute winner. To play them again at the back end of the season and win 2-1 - in the last minute, in the Bernabeu - was naturally the highlight.