Huddersfield Town digest: Injury troubles begin to ease ahead of gruelling run of fixtures
Lee Grant hopes to have a few returning faces available if not this weekend, then certainly soon. Plus predicted line-up and more
What’s been said
You can read our selected highlights and listen along to the entirety of Lee Grant’s press conference — as well as Ruben Roosken’s thoughts— right here on We Are Terriers.
Coming up next
Mansfield Town will host Saturday’s return to League One action following the international break.
Nigel Clough’s side are in ninth place, level on points with Huddersfield having played a game more. Mansfield had gone six games without defeat in all competitions (five in the league) prior to their 3-1 defeat at Accu Stadium in the Vertu Trophy a couple of weeks ago, which they followed up with a 2-1 loss away to Northampton on the eve of the international break.
Mansfield have been one of the most clinical sides in the division this season: they have the joint-third best goalscoring record (22) despite having just the 14th-highest shots per game and the 15th-highest expected goals. They have however struggled to hold onto their leads at times this season, dropping ten points from winning positions.
Town then travel to Luton Town on Tuesday for a game that was originally scheduled for October’s international break.
In contrast to Mansfield, Luton have been held back by their wasteful finishing this season. The newly-relegated Hatters dismissed manager Matt Bloomfield in October after losing five of their first 11 games.
Luton have fared better since Jack Wilshere came in as Bloomfield’s replacement, and claimed a considerable scalp with a 3-0 win away to league leaders Stockport earlier this month to further enhance their good record on the road. They have struggled for form at home, however, scoring a League One low of just five goals on their own turf.
We’ll have five conclusions on the game for our paying subscribers first thing on Sunday morning, followed by further reaction in Monday morning’s podcast — then it’s five conclusions once again for the Luton game first thing Wednesday morning. Get signed up not if you’re not already to make sure you don’t miss out.
Huddersfield Town injuries and absences
Alfie May will serve the final game of his three-match suspension on Saturday’s trip to Mansfield, but he has recovered from his lower leg injury and played 90 minutes for the U21s last week. The forward should therefore be available for selection against Luton on Tuesday.
Dion Charles went off at half time in Northern Ireland’s defeat to Slovakia on Friday night but was able to take his place on the bench for his country’s victory over Luxembourg on Monday. Radinio Balker and Owen Goodman have meanwhile both had trans-Atlantic trips for international duty over the past couple of weeks, with Suriname and Canada respectively. All three players will be assessed as to their readiness to play on Saturday bearing in mind Town have seven games to come in the space of 22 days.
Leo Castledine and Lynden Gooch returned from shoulder and calf injuries respectively against Plymouth last time out and are expected to be available for selection on Saturday.
Joe Low has missed the past two games with a calf injury, but has also been back in training this week.
Murray Wallace has been back in training all week following his foot injury, David Kasumu has also returned to action at Canalside but Saturday may come too soon for him. It’s a similar story for Antony Evans, who returned to full training this week following his knee injury.
Jack Whatmough and Marcus McGuane both remain sidelined. McGuane has had a minor setback in the form of a soft tissue injury but it is ‘not back to square one’ for him and he is ‘still heading in the right direction’. Both are at least a couple of weeks away from having any further news to share.
Will Alves, Herbie Kane and Zepiqueno Redmond are all long-term absentees.
Predicted line-up to face Mansfield
4-4-2: Owen Goodman; Lasse Sorensen, Josh Feeney, Joe Low, Ruben Roosken; Ben Wiles, Marcus Harness, Ryan Ledson, Mickel Miller; Dion Charles, Bojan Radulovic.
Substitutes: Lee Nicholls, Radinio Balker, Lynden Gooch, Sean Roughan, Leo Castledine, Cameron Ashia, Joe Taylor
Huddersfield Town Women
After their meeting in the league last month, Town Women host Leeds United at Stafflex Arena in the second round of the FA Cup on Sunday in a 1pm kick-off.
Town have unfinished business against their local rivals after Leeds emerged victorious at with a 1-0 win at Accu Stadium last month.
And finally
Town have been drawn away to Lincoln City in the round of 32 in the Vertu Trophy. The game has been set for Tuesday 2nd December in a 7pm kick-off. The club will announce ticketing info in due course.
January’s West Yorkshire Derby against Bradford City at Accu Stadium on Saturday 24th January has been brought forward to a 12:30pm kick-off at the request of the police.
Terriers fans have been asked to donate new and unwrapped toys as Christmas presents for underprivileged local children as part of Cash For Kids’ Mission Christmas campaign. Donations can be made at the Town club shop during opening hours, with donation points also available at the stadium’s Community Hub before the upcoming games against Wimbledon and Wigan Athletic.