Huddersfield Town digest: Helik injury boost but midfield options limited
Centre-back Michal Helik has returned to training but Michael Duff is short on senior midfield options to face Crawley this weekend
What’s been said
— Michael Duff, giving his immediate reaction to the Tamworth game:
“I think it's pretty obvious: not good enough.
“Out-fought, out-run, out-battled, beaten by a better team in the end. We started the game really poorly, concede the goal from the obvious threat, no quality in our play, every cross went into the keeper’s hands.
“We’ve got to end up apologising to the supporters for coming and having to watch that. We'll be all over the papers tomorrow for the wrong reasons.
“I said to the players before in the meeting room, ‘the most important time is between now and getting on the bus. Make sure your heads are right’ — and they clearly weren’t.“
“ ... I've been a player at this level, I've been a manager at a smaller club in the FA Cup and the players give everything — this is [Tamworth’s] moment, you can see that with their reactions now. Our players have got to suck it up. It's hard to defend any part of that performance.”
— Michael Duff, on Thursday afternoon, reflecting on the Tamworth game:
“I left school over 30 years ago, and I've never felt like that after a football game — and I've lost games by bigger margins and things. And the players feel it as well, they're not daft. They're all on social media so they all see it. The scrutiny's intense.
“So you don't want to throw tantrums and babies out with the bathwater. You deal with the facts, which are that we weren't good enough. It was nowhere near the levels that are accepted at any football club, never mind this one. But football being football, there's always an opportunity to put it right.
“… People get opportunities if they take them. Some people do, some people don't.
“The centre-forward shirts are available at the minute: no one's really put their hand up and gone ‘right, that's definitely mine’. Josh Koroma was probably the only one at the start of the season when he scored four in nine, so he was a one-in-two man.
“There's been some pretty brutal conversations in the last week, and you can't always cajole them, you can't always be positive. Sometimes they need to be told the truth, so it's up to them to respond. Whether they get an opportunity to respond this week is another matter, but they've had a week to respond in training.
“So one thing I will say, training's been competitive, but training doesn't win you games. We've seen that already this season. It’s holding people to account, driving each other, pushing each other, and not accepting mediocrity, which is what we saw on Friday night…probably not even mediocrity.”
Coming up next
Huddersfield Town make the long trip to Crawley Town for Saturday afternoon’s 3pm kick-off.
Crawley have had a difficult start to the season and sit in the relegation zone in 21st place, with just 11 points to show for their 14 games so far this season. Their have struggled for form at both ends of the pitch: they have scored just 12 goals this season (the fourth-lowest in the division) and have failed to score in half their games, while also conceding 25 goals (the second-worst record in League One).
Town should be wary, however, that Crawley claimed a 3-0 win at home to fifth-placed Lincoln City last time they were at home in League One, with all three goals coming in the second half.
Rob Elliot has got his side playing a passing-based 3-5-2, averaging 60.4% possession this season — only Birmingham have had more) — but they are also very robust off the ball with the worst disciplinary record in the third tier (38 yellows, one red).
The versatile Junior Quitirna has led the way for goals this season, scoring four times this season from a variety of wide and playmaker roles.
Both sides are yet to score a goal in the first 15 minutes of a League One game this season — though Huddersfield remain the only side in the league who are yet to concede in the first 15.
Huddersfield Town injuries and absences
Josh Koroma has returned to training following his back injury and was an unused substitute against Tamworth in the FA Cup last week.
Rhys Healey is also an option up front after not being risked against Tamworth. The forward had scored a hat-trick for the B team against Blackburn a few days prior.
Antony Evans missed that game with a toe injury and is unlikely to feature again against Crawley.
Jonathan Hogg has had a slight knee issue and is also a doubt to face Crawley.
However, Michal Helik is back in training following his hamstring injury, though it remains to be seen whether or not he will be in contention for a place at the weekend.
Danny Ward has been off sick through most of this week but has returned and is expected to be available for selection on Saturday.
As for the ongoing issues: Joe Hodge’s groin injury is expected to keep him out until later this month/early December. Lasse Sorensen is expected to miss around another month or so with a hamstring injury, possibly edging towards Christmas.
Lee Nicholls is ruled out until mid-late December with an elbow ligament injury, and Radinio Balker is expected to be out until around the turn of the new year with his fractured ankle but is back in light individual training.
Predicted line-up to face Crawley
3-4-1-2: Jacob Chapman; Matty Pearson, Tom Lees, Nigel Lonwijk; Brodie Spencer, David Kasumu, Herbie Kane, Mickel Miller; Ben Wiles; Bojan Radulovic, Callum Marshall.
Substitutes: Chris Maxwell, Josh Ruffels, Ollie Turton, Tom Iorpenda, Rhys Healey, Freddie Ladapo, Josh Koroma.
Huddersfield Town Women
Town Women claimed a 7-0 win over lower-tier Nantwich Town in the FA Cup on Sunday afternoon with goals from Molly Furth, Ashley Tiripke, Kate Mallin, and braces from Autumn Housley and Charlotte Stuart.
Glen Preston’s side will return to league action on Sunday afternoon with a trip to third-placed Cheadle Town Stingers, who are currently four points ahead of Town having played a game more.
John Smith’s Stadium drop-in sessions
We’ve been asked to send out a friendly reminder that if there’s anything you want to ask the club about your experience watching Huddersfield Town, one way to do it is to visit Legends Bar on a Wednesday morning between 9am and 12 noon.
Members of the club’s supporter services team will be on hand to hear your thoughts and questions, whether that’s about ticketing, wanting to see the view from a new seat you might like to switch to, accessibility issues, or whatever it may be. More information is available here.
If you can’t make it to the John Smith’s Stadium on Wednesdays but would still like help with something Town-related, you can alternatively get in touch with the team on supporterservices@htafc.com.
Our schedule
Apologies again for the lateness of this week’s podcast due to illness. All being well, we should hopefully now be back on a regular podcast schedule again with the next episode set to come out on Monday morning.
I also owe our backers an extra written piece for this week that I will try to make up to you next week with an extra bit of content.
In the meantime, we’ll have full coverage of the Crawley and Cheadle games as usual, with player ratings available for all readers on the final whistle of both games followed by more in-depth reaction for our backers.