Town boss Paul Lambert believes the summer interest from QPR unsettled midfielder Alan Judge but says the Irish international is now getting closer to his best form after a slow start to the season following the broken wrist he suffered in June which saw him miss all but 45 minutes of the pre-season friendly programme.

“He's doing well,” Lambert said when asked if the 30-year-old was getting close to making his first League One start of the season.

“I thought the other night was the best he's been since he's come back from his injury.

“I don't think he was performing at the heights he was performing, and I thought the other night he was very good when he came on. He's getting there. He's definitely getting there."

Asked whether the QPR interest in the summer had an impact as well as the injury, Lambert said: “I think there's a lot of that, yes. The QPR thing definitely unsettled him.

"I think the risk definitely unsettled him because he couldn't train with us because we couldn't make contact with him in case he fell and broke it or refractured it.

“Now he's totally fine to do that and the other night was the best he's been, but I understand it because I think he was all over the place with everything going on in the summer.”

Quizzed on whether Judge can fit into the 4-4-2 system he has employed in most of Town’s games this season or whether he’d have to tweak his formation to accommodate the former Brentford man in the centre, Lambert added: “No, you play where you're told to play. I pick a team, and I pick a system that I think is going to win a game.

"You can't keep everybody happy, but you have to play in the role that I ask you to play.”

Photo: TWTD

Wickets added 11:51 - Aug 23 Love Alan even when not playing so well his work rate is above most others .
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TractorRoyNo1 added 12:06 - Aug 23 WRIST not "risk"
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SouperJim added 12:11 - Aug 23 I agree, some have criticised Judge for his lack of end product so far (although it was his corner Norwood scored from on Saturday). While I think he has flattered to deceive at times, his work rate compared to Dozzell for example is like night and day. Judge helps us get on top of teams and carries a threat and it's easy to underestimate how important that is, as it makes it much harder for the opposition to get a foothold in the game.

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GatesPerm added 12:26 - Aug 23 One of my issues with Judge is that we lose all shape if he plays in a 442. He plays like the best player in a school playground game continually chasing and demanding the ball irrespective of where it is. The way he plays can only really work if he has a free role in a 451.
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BigHibbs added 09:07 - Aug 24 Souperjim, yet another of our so called fans slating a young player, he runs as many yards per minute as Flynn downes according to opta. Also judge didn't take the corner on Saturday Idris el Mizouni did. So before you start slagging your own players off get your facts straight
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