Huddersfield Town digest: Injuries to be assessed before Millwall clash
There's another six-pointer coming to the John Smith's Stadium this Saturday; plus Andre Breitenreiter's thoughts on Coventry, Stoke and plenty more
What’s been said
“For sure some players showed not their best performance to be honest, and for that you make substitutions, and they did it well. It changed second half, but all the players who started had trained very well the past ten days and it was clear we wanted to start with this line-up.
“Danny Ward has been injured for two days with pain in his back. [We’ve had] many many little injuries the past few weeks. He would also have been an option for the squad but it was not possible, we decided this morning.
“… We also saw positive things. It was possible to take points, especially in the last 10-15 minutes, and the boys showed good morale, which is also important.”
— Andre Breitenreiter, on Friday’s defeat to Coventry
“Oh, it was possible to win at the end. I think the team showed a really good performance today after a really difficult ten minutes at the beginning — we know about the atmosphere in Stoke.
“We controlled the game in the first half, we had good chances and good opportunities to score goals. Bojan scored his first goal — a wonderful situation — and we were very fine with the performance in the first half.
“After half time we conceded another goal of the month — unbelievable! But we must defend the winger tighter. It was too easy to take the shot. We struggled then for 15 minutes maybe, then at the end we tried everything to win this game: substitutions in, offensive players on the pitch. We had really good chances at set pieces.
“But we have to work more for the portion of luck we need, but also we need the quality to score the goal so we can collect the three points.”
— Andre Breitenreiter, reviewing Monday’s 1-1 draw away to Stoke with BBC Radio Leeds
“The Huddersfield Town Supporters’ Association (HTSA) is calling on the club to make sure that season card prices remain affordable over the long-term.
“We believe that the simple ticketing strategy adopted since 2016 has, on the whole, been successful.
“Reasonably-priced season cards have resulted in high attendances, a more diverse fanbase, and sustainable matchday revenues. They have also distinguished Huddersfield Town as a club that does the right thing by its supporters and wider community.
“The club’s proposal to gradually increase prices to meet the Championship average is thus fraught with risk — especially in light of the team’s consistently poor performance on the pitch and a historic cost-of-living crisis.
“There is little doubt that higher prices will lead to a drop-off in season card sales. While the club may enjoy a modest increase in revenue under such a scenario, we do not believe this will be a worthwhile trade off.
“These concerns are shared by our members, who tasked us with defending value-for-money season cards at our Annual General Meeting (AGM) in March. Many in the wider fanbase are concerned, too. A HTSA survey published in February found that 68 percent of 392 respondents thought “season card affordability” should be our top priority.
“39 percent, meanwhile, said they would not pay any more than £300 for a Championship season card. Another 29 percent reported that they would not pay more than £350. Only 14 percent stated they would pay more than £300 for a League One season card.
“In addition to our comments at the latest meeting of the All Together Town (ATT) panel, we therefore propose the following measures:
Assuming that zoning is re-introduced, it should be as simple and clear as possible.
Under a zoning system, the average price of an adult Huddersfield Town Championship season card in 2024/25 should not exceed £300.
Season card prices next season should be frozen at their current level if the club is relegated to League One.
Every effort should be made to keep season card prices as low as possible for young people and the over-65s.
“None of this is a criticism of the club, which does fantastic work to engage with and consider the needs of supporters — in general through the ATT panel and specifically through the incredibly hardworking Supporters’ Services department.
“It is simply a reminder of the balance — and overlap — between the interests of the club and its loyal supporters.”
— Huddersfield Town Supporters’ Association issue a statement on season ticket prices for the new season, which are yet to be announced by the club
Coming up next
It’s another massive game towards the bottom of the table for Town as Millwall visit the John Smith’s Stadium.
The Lions come into the game sitting in 19th, four points clear of Town and the relegation zone, having enjoyed an initial improvement in fortunes under the returning Neil Harris before going winless in their past three games, including Monday’s 2-1 defeat away to bottom side Rotherham.
Elsewhere in the relegation battle
Scorelines to keep an eye on this weekend are as follows (Saturday 3pm unless noted otherwise):
Rotherham United v Plymouth Argyle (Friday 8pm)
Blackburn Rovers v Southampton
Leicester City v Birmingham City
Stoke City v West Brom
Queens Park Rangers v Sheffield Wednesday
Huddersfield Town injuries and absences
Jonathan Hogg and Radinio Balker missed the trip to Stoke with injuries they picked up against Coventry; shoulder and thigh respectively. Danny Ward missed both games with a back issue.
Breitenreiter is awaiting the results of an assessment on Hogg to see if he will be able to play against Millwall at the weekend. We will seek further information on all three players at the pre-match press conference on Thursday.
Tom Edwards will be eligible to return to the Town squad this weekend having been unable to play against his parent club Stoke on Monday.
Tom Lees is expected to be out for ‘the next few weeks’ with a calf issue.
Yuta Nakayama (knee), Josh Ruffels (groin) and Ollie Turton (knee) are all ruled out for the season, while Kian Harratt is suspended for the rest of the campaign.
Predicted Huddersfield Town line-up to face Millwall
4-2-3-1: Lee Nicholls; Brodie Spencer, Matty Pearson, Michal Helik, Jaheim Headley; David Kasumu, Alex Matos; Pat Jones, Jack Rudoni, Sorba Thomas; Bojan Radulovic.
Substitutes: Chris Maxwell, Tom Edwards, Ben Jackson, Brahima Diarra, Tom Iorpenda, Ben Wiles, Delano Burgzorg, Josh Koroma, Rhys Healey.
Huddersfield Town Women
Town were held to a goalless draw at home to Halifax last Wednesday evening before losing 0-2 to Wolverhampton Wanderers on Sunday.
With just five games left this season, that leaves Town seven points adrift of safety but with a game in hand over Stourbridge, who sit just above the dotted line.
They will make the trip to third-placed Burnley this Sunday.
Our schedule
In case you missed it over the long weekend, we’ve been hard at it over the past few days. Catch up now if you need to:
A review of Town’s newly-released financial accounts for 2022/23
Five conclusions on Town 1-3 Coventry
Saturday’s podcast review of the same, featuring a Q&A section
Five conclusions on Stoke 1-1 Town
We’ll have the next edition of the podcast out for you first thing Wednesday morning, maybe before if you’re good and have done all your homework.
Player ratings from Millwall will be available to all readers on the final whistle, followed by five conclusions later that evening.