Tom Lees speaks out on Huddersfield Town move following Sheffield Wednesday exit | OneFootball

Tom Lees has insisted that he cannot wait to get going at Huddersfield Town and test himself at the highest level following his arrival being confirmed by the Terriers on Sunday.

The experienced defender has been a free agent this summer having been one of many players to have left Sheffield Wednesday at the end of last term following their relegation to League One.

It had been reported that the Terriers were closing in on a potential swoop for the defender and were keen to add him to their squad ahead of the start of the new season.

That comes after Carlos Corberan’s side have already added to their defensive options with the likes of Matty Pearson, Ollie Turton and Josh Ruffles all arriving during the off-season.

The Terriers confirmed the arrival of Lees on their official club website on Sunday with the defender having put to pen to paper on a two-year deal.

Quiz: What was the score the last time Huddersfield Town played at each of these 24 stadiums?

1 of 24

What the score did Huddersfield record the last time they played a competitive match at The John Smith's Stadium?

1-1 draw

2-0 win

3-1 defeat

1-0 win

Speaking to Huddersfield’s official club website, Lees insisted that he sees the Terriers as the right club for him to test himself at the highest level next season after assessing his options. While he also confessed that Corberan’s coaching methods had played a part in convincing him to make the move.

He said: “I’m absolutely delighted! I’m really happy to be here and happy it has all been done now and signed off. I’m looking forward to getting into training, getting started and meeting everybody

“The season starts this weekend with a competitive game, and I’m really looking forward to it.

“I want to play at the highest level I can for as long as I can and test myself. A lot of this move is about testing myself, trying a new challenge and new things. It wasn’t about what the easiest option was, but about taking myself out of my comfort (zone). I want to get better and keep improving.”

On Corberan’s influence he added: “Where I am in my career, I’m really eager to keep improving. I’ve seen it first-hand now, but I liked what was said to me about the culture here and the way that the Head Coach improves the players. There are a lot of case studies of that, and I’ve seen it last season when we played against Town in the first half of the season. You could see the patterns of play and, as a defender, it was really hard given the movement of the players.

“I’ve seen a lot of players really improve when they go into a good environment with a good Head Coach, and I want a bit of that.”

The verdict

This seems like an excellent bit of business from Huddersfield this summer and Lees is the sort of experienced head that they need to make progress in the Championship next season. The defender is proven at this level and it is a major positive that the Terriers have been able to convince him to sign with them ahead of other interested parties.

Lees will know that he has things to prove now having been part of the Sheffield Wednesday squad that were relegated from the Championship last season. However, he was often amongst their better performers, even if he did make one or two individual errors at times. That is something that he will need to cut out of his game at Huddersfield.

Corberan might be an ideal coach for him to learn off and try to improve his quality in possession over the next two seasons. That is something he clearly feels can happen based on his initial comments after signing for the Terriers. If the defender can improve that aspect of his game then he should prove to be an astute signing.