Cardiff City v Huddersfield Town: Why no Terriers player wants to stay up more than Michal Helik

Thankfully this time around, it is somewhat different and not just because he is out there on the pitch this time around, in his view.Mention 2021-22 and the Huddersfield Town defender is entitled to grimace somewhat.

Then in the colours of Barnsley, the Polish centre-half - during a fraught second full season in English football after moving over from his homeland - was part of a Reds side whose slide after reaching the play-offs in the previous campaign was painful and abject to watch.

To top things off in the final third of that troubled year, Helik was a helpless bystander after picking up a season-ending ankle injury in training which ruled out him out of the run-in.By coincidence, Barnsley were relegated after a defeat at his current employers in Huddersfield just over a year ago - with three games in their season still to go as Helik watched on from the stands with Reds fans in a 2-1 reverse last April.

A microcosm of that sorry season was that the away section was pretty sparse - despite the two clubs being situated either side of the Emley Moor mast and a journey to Huddersfield representing a short hop for Barnsley followers.

This Sunday, Huddersfield, with three fixtures remaining, will embark a much longer trek to Cardiff in bigger numbers, with the club having put on free coaches due to the game kicking off at noon at the behest of Sky. Around 2,000 fans will be getting up at the crack of dawn.

A victory would put Town on the cusp of safety. Should that be clinched at the John Smith's Stadium, then the clock will finally go around for Helik.

He told The Yorkshire Post: "I am the player who wants to stay in this league the most.

"I was in the stadium (last season) as a fan and I remember that (Huddersfield) game. It was hard to watch.

"When you are injured, it is annoying and you are sitting in the stands and cannot help. It is the worst feeling for a player, especially when you are fighting to stay in the league. It was such a hard time for me.

"I started with the play-offs and it was amazing with the first season I came here (to England). But obviously the next year was tough as it is right now.

"I have one relegation with Barnsley and I was so sad. Hopefully, I will be staying up with Huddersfield this season."

Barnsley's demotion to League One last term had an air of inevitability long before it was officially confirmed.

For much of this season, there were distinct paralels between the experiences of Huddersfield in 2022-23 and their Tyke neighbours last year.

Both have followed up participation in the play-offs with rotten seasons after. But crucially with one big difference.

While Barnsley and Town placed their faith in four names with little experience of the frontline EFL management in Markus Schopp, Poya Asbaghi, Danny Schofield and Mark Fotheringham, the latter club had the intelligence to make a key call in the nick of time to call up someone who most certainly has in Neil Warnock.

Town's destiny may still be in the balance, but the fact that their fate is in their own hands going into the final full week of a problematic season is testament to Warnock's transformation of the first-team squad in terms of mood, organisation, togetherness and belief.

For Helik, it's in marked contrast to the situation at Barnsley last season. There is a great deal more hope in this part of West Yorkshire than there was in one corner of South Yorkshire last April.

He added: "I totally agree. We are more competitive, with Huddersfield this season than we were with Barnsley last year. That's why I have a hope that we are able to do it.

"I hope I will show it on the pitch. I know during the game that you cannot do anything special.

"That is the most important thing, you need to try and do simple things as good as you can and I will try and do it.

"We have been in the relegation zone for almost the whole season and after the last month, we have given ourselves a chance to be in a good position before the last three games. We know we still have work to do.

"I think we are in a good spot as we have everything in our hands. We don't have to look for the other teams and count the points, looking for somebody to lose. We have the comfort in that we have everything in our hands.

"The gaffer is a legend and you can feel why when you are working with him. I really enjoy it, but I don't want to say too much as it is our gaffer and it will sound silly when I start speaking like this."