HUDDERSFIELD Town are one of several clubs keeping tabs on Mark Sykes’ situation at Oxford United, according to reports.

The Sky Bet Championship side have been monitoring the midfielder and are prepared to ‘firm up their interest’ before the end of January, Football Insider claims.

Sykes has less than six months left on his contract and told us earlier this month that January is ‘massive’ when it comes to his future.

An exit this month would mean United get a fee, whereas a summer departure would see him go for nothing.

A number of clubs have reportedly been keeping an eye on the 24-year-old, with Huddersfield scouts said to have watched him multiple times.

Sykes has been in excellent form this season, scoring eight goals in 26 games, and has found the net in four of his last six matches.

Read also: Mark Sykes and Karl Robinson on midfielder's contract talks

The Irishman has made 117 United appearances since from Glenavon in January 2019, with the club triggering a 12-month extension to his deal last year.

He is one of nine senior players out of contract this summer and head coach Karl Robinson last week spoke of the importance of keeping Sykes.

He said: “It’s always difficult, but we’ll be very hard in negotiations.

“We believe that we have good players and we believe people like him need to be part of the football club moving forward.

“We want Mark Sykes to stay here for a long time.”

Huddersfield are sixth in the Championship and signed left back Josh Ruffels from United last summer.