Town defender Tommy Smith has revealed the reason he withdrew from the New Zealand squad towards the end of 2015 — he had plans to propose to girlfriend Leanne.

All Whites’ coach, Anthony Hudson, son of ex-Chelsea, Stoke, Arsenal and England midfielder Alan Hudson, said Smith was absent from the side that won 1-0 in Oman in November because of “personal reasons” and refused to elaborate.

But Smith took a break from preparing for Town’s visit to QPR tomorrow to explain: “At the time I didn’t want to say anything for obvious reasons.

“My family were over from New Zealand at the time — my parents moved back there in January last year — and I proposed to my girlfriend, Leanne.

“My sister also came over with her husband and I don’t get to see them very often. I had planned it all the way through and I couldn’t release the news before it happened. That’s the personal reason that Anthony Hudson was referring to.

“I’m available for selection now but I’m not sure what’s happening with the March international date.

“We’ll have to see what happens there and if they have a fixture lined up yet. The World Cup qualifying games start in early June so even if we are in the play-offs I would hope to be available for that, even if I might not be available to meet up with them straight away. The wedding will be in June 2017 — it’s all booked and I’ve checked the fixtures!”

Smith turned his attention to the west London clash and added: “I like going to Loftus Road and I like all the old stadiums where the fans are close to the pitch.

“The atmosphere’s electric and those are the games you want to play in. I hear we’ve sold out of tickets in the away section and our fans will be brilliant once again I’m sure.

“When we beat QPR at our place on Boxing Day we got a late winner so more of the same would be nice. But they have a dangerous team if they click on the day and we know we’ll have to be on song.

“We will go there looking to win and believing we can get all three points. The onus is usually on the home team to attack the away team but we don’t usually sit in ourselves to be honest.

“With the pace we’ve got out wide now it means we have the counter-attacking threat that maybe we didn’t have in the past, so that adds another string to our bow this season.”

Meanwhile, Smith is still turning to yoga to help his fitness as he hopes to extend his ever-present record in the Championship this season all the way to the final day in May.

He said: “I’ve been doing it for a number of years now and it started initially when I had an ankle injury back in 2008 or 2009. I wanted to make sure I kept the flexibility going and I’ve carried it on ever since then. It’s something I do every week, religiously, now.

“The gaffer is really good with making sure people receive the appropriate rest, depending on how they are feeling. He doesn’t just stick to a rigid plan; he asks how you are feeling and he’ll plan the training accordingly.

“He embraces the modern-day technology and he obviously leans on Lids [fitness coach Andy Liddell] a little bit for that.

“He receives Lids’ advice and he takes it all on board but the final decision always rests with the gaffer. He has moved with the times and it does show with the way he prepares us.”

Photo: Action Images

Seasider added 16:42 - Feb 5 Nice to hear Tommy say that the boss has moved with the times.I have noticed he changes formation quite frequently,even during matches;and is no longer wedded to a rigid 4-4-2 system.
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