Huddersfield Town digest: Injury latest as two return to squad training
Lee Grant will lead his side into four League One games in just nine days, starting with a visit from Port Vale on Boxing Day
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Huddersfield Town have back-to-back home games to end 2025.
Port Vale visit Accu Stadium on Boxing Day for a 3pm kick-off as Darren Moore looks to get one over on his former club.
The newly-promoted side are struggling at the bottom of the table, which all comes down to their poor form in front of goal. They have found the net just 13 times, are massive underperforming against their expected goals, and have a shot conversion rate of just 5.1% - the lowest in the division by some distance.
Vale have been better away from home than on their own turf this season, however, with nine of their 15 points coming on the road (two wins, three draws, five defeats), while at the back they have conceded just two more goals (24) than the top two sides, Cardiff and Lincoln.
Then it’s Northampton Town’s turn to come to Huddersfield on the evening of Monday 29th December in a 7:45pm kick-off.
We thought we saw what the Cobblers are all about when Town visited Sixfields for a 1-1 draw earlier this month — solid at the back, but not necessarily the most threatening side in front of goal.
Since then, Northampton have lost 2-1 away to Peterborough with the significant impediment of having been reduced to ten men after just ten minutes, but they then fired back with a 3-1 win over out-of-form Wimbledon.
Town will visit Lincoln City to kick off the new year on…well, New Year’s Day. The Imps currently sit second in League One after winning four of their past six league games, including beating leaders Cardiff at the weekend.
Town will be hoping to have cut down the seven-point deficit between the two clubs by the time they head back to a ground they visited just a few weeks ago for a 2-0 victory in the Vertu Trophy.
Lincoln have found a nice balance between their attacking and defensive efforts this season, and are happy to surrender possession and look to win the ball back with intense efforts to win the ball back. They also rate of one of the most clinical sides in the division, finishing off 13.7% of their chances - only Stevenage (14.1%) have fared better.
Exeter City then come to West Yorkshire on Sunday 4th January in another 3pm kick-off to bring this busy run of fixtures to a close.
The Grecians have struggled this season but have just lifted themselves out of the relegation zone with two impressive wins from their past three league games, both at home to sides who were in the top half at the time (Wimbledon and Barnsley).
We’ll have five conclusions available to our paying subscribers first thing in the morning after each of those games as usual.
Our podcast schedule is a little bit different from usual over the next couple of weeks thanks to Town not playing on the next couple of Saturdays.
We’re aiming to release our podcast reaction to the Port Vale and Northampton games on Tuesday 30th November (or, failing that, Wednesday 31st), with the first podcast of the new year set to be released on Tuesday 6th January.
There’s also unlikely to be a digest out next week unless there are significant developments to report.
Huddersfield Town injuries and absences
Leo Castledine was subbed off after receiving a kick to the top of his foot on the follow-through from a tackle against Rotherham. He left the ground with a bit of bruising and will be assessed ahead of facing Port Vale, but there is no serious damage and he is expected to be OK.
Marcus McGuane and Mickel Miller are back in training with the rest of the team after groin and hamstring injuries respectively. Both players have ‘still got a bit to go’ before they are available for selection.
Will Alves is recovering well from his broken foot and Lee Grant hopes he can start to be prepared for selection in the coming days.
Josh Feeney is expected to be out until early-to-mid January with a groin injury.
Herbie Kane (groin) and Zepiqueno Redmond (knee) are in individual training as they bid to return from their respective injuries.
Antony Evans is expected to be out until roughly around the end of January with the knee injury he picked up against Luton.
Jack Whatmough has no set return date after suffering setbacks on his recovery from a calf injury.
Predicted line-up to face Port Vale
3-4-1-2: Lee Nicholls; Radinio Balker, Joe Low, Murray Wallace; Lynden Gooch, Marcus Harness, Ryan Ledson, Sean Roughan; Leo Castledine; Alfie May, Bojan Radulovic.
Substitutes: Owen Goodman, Ruben Roosken, Lasse Sorensen, David Kasumu, Cameron Ashia, Ben Wiles, Dion Charles.