PHIL Parkinson believes subsequent events proved he was right to turn down the opportunity of becoming Huddersfield Town’s manager in April 2007.

The Charlton boss, who was Alan Pardew’s assistant at the time, had been all set to be unveiled as the Terriers’ new manager after a deal had been agreed.

However, a dramatic late change of heart led to Parkinson staying at The Valley, a decision which infuriated Huddersfield fans.

Parkinson will cross swords with the Terriers for the first time since the controversy when his Charlton side host the Yorkshire outfit on Saturday and is sure to receive plenty of stick from the visiting supporters in the Jimmy Seed Stand.

But Parky claimed today ahead of the clash he has no regrets and history shows he did make the correct decision.

He said: “At the time I turned that job down, I didn’t think the infrastructure of the club was ready to take Huddersfield forward.

“If you look at that decision, I think they’ve had three or four managers since then and it is only now they’ve had a takeover and they’ve got a new chairman in Dean Hoyle who is ready to push the club forward.

“Huddersfield is a terrific club with a great fan base, but I think what I said at the time has been proved right in that the structure of the club I didn’t feel was right for me, or it wasn’t ready to be taken forward.”

Parkinson will be looking for Charlton to get their promotion challenge back on track this weekend after three league games without a goal, but knows Huddersfield are more than capable of causing the Addicks plenty of problems.

He said: “Huddersfield are an open, attacking team, which is probably their strength, and they’ve had a good win on Saturday.

“They had a good start. They had a dip where they couldn’t score, when teams probably went to Huddersfield to make it difficult for them, but they’ve come back.

“Jordan Rhodes has got a lot of goals this season and makes decent runs in the box.

“Anthony Pilkington has done well from out wide, so they are a decent side and we know all about their players and the different formations they’ve played during the course of the season.”