"And not just as a player. I'm sure Ross Turnbull and Brad Jones will tell you that he has put a lot of time in over the years helping them on the training ground, passing on the benefit of his experience and the tricks of the trade.
"Brad trained with him for years with Boro and Australia and Ross has learned a lot from a top-class keeper as part of his development.
"And I know that this season as Ross has stepped up to the first team he has phoned Mark a lot on the phone and had lots of advice and encouragement.
"So Mark is a big friend of the club and it will be nice to see him - but for 90 minutes on Saturday we will be going flat out to ruin his Christmas."