Ex-Middlesbrough man Malley continues trial at Championship club amid bad news for Burrell

Connor Malley is on trial with Huddersfield Town's B team and played the second game of his time with the club on Tuesday afternoon. The Midfielder was released by Boro this summer after six years at the club.

Malley impressed in his Boro first-team debut against Rotherham in April 2021 but failed to impress Neil Warnock enough, or Chris Wilder after his arrival last November, to earn regular first-team game time. In March last year he joined Gateshead on loan until the end of the season and shortly after it was announced he would be leaving the club at the end of his contract.

After helping Gateshead secure promotion to the National League, the 22-year-old might have been expected to join the Tynesiders, but he has instead found himself training with the B team of Boro's Championship rivals. If he earns a contract it would be with a view of playing for the reserve side initially.

Malley reflects on time at Middlesbrough, recalls Rotherham high & looks to future

Huddersfield Town decided to restructure their academy back in 2017, intentionally recategorising itself from a Category 2 system under the Elite Player Performance Plan to a Category 4 system. It means that rather than take part in the Premier League 2 under-23s league, the Terriers' second string instead have a B team that play regular friendlies.

The intention of the move was to refocus attention on hoovering up players who slipped the net at other academies. And in that sense, Malley fits the bill of exactly the kind of player that their academy bosses would look to bring in. So far Malley has played two games for them, first playing 90 minutes on Saturday in a win over neighbours Brighouse Town. He then played another 73 minutes on Tuesday afternoon in a