Huddersfield Town digest: Predicted line-up v Stevenage, Marshall reaction
Huddersfield Town digest: Predicted line-up v Stevenage, Marshall reaction
Huddersfield Town are straight back at it with their first home game of the League One campaign
What’s been said
“I’m not naive, I know what’s gone on in the past, and there is a little bit of ‘we’re not used to winning’ — we have to change the mentality of the whole football club.
“I thought we were excellent. I thought we were good value for the win against a really good team.
“We showed every part of the game: we had to dig in and look solid defensively, we pressed really well at times, and then I thought we used the ball well, particularly second half.
“We didn’t sit and I thought most of the game was played in Peterborough’s half.
“[Peterborough’s] best opportunities came from us giving the ball away. They’ve got some good players, make no mistake, but when they’re getting their chances from our poor play rather than their good play, that’s a frustration.”
— Michael Duff, on Town’s performance against Peterborough on Saturday afternoon
“I thought he showed what he is: he’s infectious, he’s energetic, he’s got quality. He’ll be better for the goal, because his last loan didn’t work for him, but he’s had a start here already and he’s got a goal.
“He’s shown what we brought him in for. He’s a natural goalscorer and goalscorers are goalscorers. He’s struggled in the Championship, but it’s a big jump from under-23s football to the top end of the Championship for a young lad.
“He got absolutely smashed ten foot in the air early on and just got up, so he’s a proper Belfast boy, a tough little sod.
“With respect to Cal, he’s not a household name so the players don’t know who he is, and now they’ll be like ‘yeah, he’s not bad him’, which creates competition.”
— Michael Duff, on Callum Marshall, following his goal and assist against Morecambe on his debut on Tuesday night
“He text me straight away and said ‘I think he might be coming’, and I know how good of a player Callum is, so obviously I was very persuasive and positive about the place and made sure he picked here!
“We lived together just before we moved away, in the Northern Ireland setup at a university, so we’re quite close. He’s a good lad, he keeps himself to himself, he’s very concentrated on his football and he knows what he wants.
“He can’t do anything: he can’t cook, he can’t clean, he can’t do none of that. But he’s a good footballer, so that makes up for it!”
— Brodie Spencer, on former housemate Callum Marshall
“We're going to try and improve. There'll be things from the game that we need to improve on. The training session's already planned, so the work's already taken place. That's the beauty of having the day to day to work. You're prepping for Saturday.
“Hopefully they'll get to know like I've got quite a moaning voice. So even when I'm saying well done, it sounds like I'm moaning. The players are aware of that as well!
“I think there's a lot of potential in the group, but I don't want them to get drunk on a little bit of success. I don’t know when the last time we won back-to-back as a football club is…I spoke to one of [Morecambe’s] players who I worked with as a young lad at Burnley, and he's like, ‘you know, the gaffer said you're a Championship team in League One, he had us ready’.
“So they were expecting a good team, and I think they'll go home thinking ‘they're a good team’.
We have to accept that responsibility and that pressure, because teams are going come here and go, ‘these aren't bad’, but it doesn't just happen. So it's nice to see smiles on faces, it's nice to see positive energy around the place, but don't rest on your laurels. It's two games in, and we want 50, 60 games this season. “
— Michael Duff, on keeping a level head, after the 3-0 win over Morecambe on Tuesday
Coming up next
Stevenage were surprise play-off contenders in League One last season following their promotion from the fourth tier. Steve Evans’ side remained in the top six for much of the season before a late drop-off in results saw them finish 9th, just five points off the play-offs.
Evans departed for Rotherham United after it became clear a shot at promotion was not to be. He was replaced by former centre-forward Alex Revell — his second spell in charge having also managed the side from 2020-21.
Stevenage made a winning start to this season by beating Shrewsbury 1-0, then ran Championship side Norwich close in a 4-3 defeat in the Carabao Cup on Tuesday evening.
Revell will be without star man Jamie Reid, who claimed 18 league goals last season but has been ruled out for the first few weeks of this new campaign on medical grounds.
Huddersfield Town injuries and absences
Ollie Turton played 45 minutes in the Carabao Cup after missing the last few friendlies of the summer with a slight hamstring issue. Turton’s introduction at half time against Morecambe was pre-planned to give him some minutes, and was not due to any new issue for Michal Helik.
Radinio Balker is out until the new year with a fractured ankle, while Bojan Radulovic is forecast to be sidelined until late September with a groin injury.
Predicted Huddersfield Town line-up to face Stevenage
Michael Duff spoke before the Morecambe game about players having an opportunity to put themselves in his thoughts, and several players took that chance. However, last weekend’s performance against Peterborough was also impressive, so it’s hard for us to see the head coach making too many changes.
Our question marks this week are Mickel Miller vs. Jaheim Headley, Jonathan Hogg vs. Herbie Kane and Callum Marshall vs. Josh Koroma. There’s a case to be made that Stevenage’s more direct style might make Hogg’s defensive contribution less crucial than it was against Peterborough. Kane’s superior quality on the ball might be more useful, but we’ll stick with the captain until we’re given reason to think otherwise.
Duff admitted Headley was ‘really pushing’ Miller for a place at left wing-back, but we imagine Miller will keep his spot. We predict that Marshall will take Josh Koroma’s place as the only change from London Road.
3-5-2: Lee Nicholls; Tom Lees, Michal Helik, Brodie Spencer; Lasse Sorensen, Antony Evans, Jonathan Hogg, Ben Wiles, Mickel Miller; Rhys Healey, Callum Marshall.
Substitutes: Chris Maxwell, Matty Pearson, Jaheim Headley, Herbie Kane, David Kasumu, Josh Koroma, Danny Ward.
Huddersfield Town Women
Town Women kick off the new FAWNL Division One North season with a big derby game away to Leeds United on Sunday.
The game will be played at the Bannister Prentice Stadium in Garforth in a 2pm kick-off. Town are keen to hit the ground running as they aim to secure promotion back to the third tier at the first attempt.
We Are Terriers will provide full coverage of Town Women throughout the season, with Arthur Difford as our dedicated women’s reporter. Match day coverage will mirror what we provide for the men: player ratings free to all readers, with more detailed reporting available to our paying backers.
Arthur has spoken to skipper Beth Stanfield, vice-captain Bethany Ibbotson, manager Glen Preston and chairman David Mallin for an excellent season preview piece — check that out!
Our schedule
We’ll have ratings from the Stevenage game available to all readers as usual, followed by five conclusions for our paying backers on Sunday morning.
The We Are Terriers podcast will be released on Sunday night or Monday morning for paid subscribers, so sign up now if you haven’t already to make sure you don’t miss it!
Donate to Wander 2 Wanderers
While I’ve got you, I just want to ask if you have two minutes and a few quid to spare for a very good cause. I’ll be taking part in the second day of Wander 2 Wanderers in September, walking the final ten miles to the away game against Bolton Wanderers to raise money for Forget Me Not Children’s Hospice.
You can make a donation here - any amount gratefully received.
Even better, if you’re interested in signing up for the walk, details on how to sign up for the walk are here. Thanks!