Huddersfield Town digest: Bojan Radulovic doubt for Bolton trip
The Terriers head into Saturday's 12:30pm kick-off against third-placed Bolton hoping for good news on the centre-forward. Plus predicted line-up, match preview and more
What’s been said
You can read our selected highlights and listen along to the entirety of Martin Drury’s pre-match press conference — as well as Jak Alnwick’s thoughts— right here on We Are Terriers.
Coming up next
Bolton Wanderers are close to being assured of a play-off place after their 5-1 win over Stevenage on Tuesday night, and a win at home to Town on Saturday lunchtime could be enough to see them over the line.
That victory came on the back of taking just three wins from their previous 11 league games — although the only sides they defeat them in that run were Port Vale and Cardiff.
Bolton have lost just one home game all season, falling to a 1-0 defeat to Mansfield in their last game before the turn of the new year.
The Trotters also have one of the meanest defences in the league and have been particularly excellent at defending from dead balls, conceding just nine games from set pieces (excluding penalties). Only Mansfield have a better record on that front.
We’ll have five conclusions on the game for our paying subscribers by no later than first thing on Sunday morning, followed by further reaction in Monday morning’s podcast. Get signed up if you’re not already.
Elsewhere at the top end of League One
Other games on Saturday afternoon involving the top ten are as follows (3pm unless noted):
Barnsley vs Bradford (12:30)
Wimbledon vs Plymouth
Exeter vs Stockport
Mansfield vs Luton
Reading vs Cardiff
Stevenage vs Lincoln
A lot of those games in hand for other sides will then be made up in midweek, with Town of course sitting it out. Tuesday night includes the following games:
Bradford vs Plymouth
Doncaster vs Lincoln
Rotherham vs Luton
Stevenage vs Barnsley
Stockport vs Mansfield
Cardiff also host Port Vale on Wednesday night.
Huddersfield Town injuries and absences
Bojan Radulovic went off in the first half of Tuesday night’s draw with Cardiff, but the injury is not as bad as initially feared and a late call with be made on his availability for Saturday. Martin Drury believes that game may come too soon, however.
Lee Nicholls entered the concussion protocol after being forced off against Wycombe and missed Tuesday night as a result. He is unlikely to be available to face Bolton.
Lynden Gooch was ruled out against Cardiff with the calf injury he picked up against Wycombe and is now likely to miss the rest of the season.
Ryan Hardie (calf) and Jack Whatmough (groin) are both working to try and play a part for Town before the end of the campaign. Hardie is unlikely to be ready to play a part against Bolton.
Cameron Ashia and Josh Feeney are both expected to be out for the rest of the season with groin and quad injuries respectively.
Predicted line-up to face Bolton
3-4-2-1: Jak Alnwick; Radinio Balker, Murray Wallace, Sean Roughan; Lasse Sorensen, Cameron Humphreys, Ryan Ledson, Bali Mumba; Marcus Harness, David Kasumu; George Sebine.
Substitutes: Nik Tzanev, Joe Low, Antony Evans, Marcus McGuane, Mickel Miller, Dion Charles, Alfie May.
Huddersfield Town Women
Town Women host Cheadle Town Stingers in a potential title decider on Sunday afternoon, so get down the Graham Leslie arena at Storthes Hall to lend your support if you possibly can.
It is possible that the Terriers may be able to guarantee top spot with a victory in that game, depending on Cheadle’s result against Chorley on Thursday evening.
The full permutations are as follows.
If Cheadle drop points against Chorley on Thursday night, however:
A win against Cheadle on Sunday would mean Town were guaranteed to win the title.
A draw on Sunday would keep Town top of the table with a game in hand, and winning either of their remaining two games would guarantee Town the title.
A defeat on Sunday would see Cheadle go top by a point or two, but Town would still have a game in hand.
If Cheadle beat Chorley on Thursday:
A win for Town on Sunday would leave the Terriers needing just one more win from their remaining two league games to guarantee the title — although just a single point more for Town would probably be sufficient, given their goal difference advantage.
A draw on Sunday would keep Town’s destiny in their own hands: they would remain a point behind Cheadle, but with a game in hand.
A defeat for Town on Sunday would put Cheadle in the driver’s seat: Cheadle could then guarantee the title for themselves by winning their final game against Durham Cestria.