Huddersfield Town player ratings as woeful performance hands Preston all too easy win
A particularly rancid first-half outing proved costly in a near-universally hapless effort
Chris Maxwell - 4
Generally unconvincing without being outright shocking. Unable to get a firm enough hand to Alan Browne’s early opener for the goalkeeper’s former club with too much of his line to get back across. Sold Tom Lees short with a first-half pass that nearly landed Town in trouble. Made a meal of a deflected Duane Holmes effort but was granted a soft foul. Seemed to get down late to Ben Whiteman’s second-half strike.
Matty Pearson - 6
Forced to leave a big hole in the defence to go and engage Liam Miller on the way to Preston’s second goal, but having done so needed to do more to stop the ball into the box - even if that meant taking a cynical yellow. Made up for it with an excellent cross for Danny Ward to score before departing injured.
Michal Helik - 6
Dealt well with what came his way.
Tom Lees - 6
Took Helik’s head fully to the ribs just before half time, though unclear if his departure was down to that or an effort to get the more technical Yuta Nakayama onto the pitch.
Sorba Thomas - 6
Pretty much the only Town player to get out of the first half with any credit and worked hard to try and get them going after the break. Moved to centre-forward on the hour and did a better job of making himself available in the build-up, but to little avail.
David Kasumu - 4
Had a difficult game, getting nowhere near the kind of levels we’ve seen from him lately. Laboured performance and cut a frustrated figure late on.
Jonathan Hogg - 4
Not involved on or off the ball nearly as much as he or Darren Moore would have liked first half. Took things up a gear after the break and tried to quicken the pace, but unusually lost out on a couple of challenges you might expect him to win.
Josh Austerfield - 4
Made his first-ever Championship start, presumably in an effort to get a passer into midfield, but had nobody to actually pass it to with his teammates going into hiding and nobody presenting themselves as an option. Struggled with Duane Holmes on a couple of occasions.
Josh Koroma - 3
Absolutely moronic decision to try and beat a defender himself and take all the glory midway through the first half when a simple pass to Burgzorg would have dispensed with the only Preston outfielder and given Town a near-certain goal. Replaced at the break.
Danny Ward - 5
A passenger in the first half, neither making intelligent runs in behind nor coming deep to help build the play. Took his header well from Pearson’s cross to give Town a fighting chance, which earned him a couple of marks, otherwise he’d have been down in deeply sub-par territory. Didn’t seem hugely impressed at being substituted, despite having been hobbling for a few minutes
Delano Burgzorg - 5
Should have been handed a tap-in by Koroma and will argue he should have had a penalty given in his favour for a Liam Lindsay push. The only Town player chasing down half-lost causes at times, to his credit and his frustration alike.
Substitutes
Yuta Nakayama (for Lees 46) - Took over on the left of the back three. Indecisive and slow to commit to closing down Ben Whiteman’s shot as Preston re-established a two-goal lead. Had a decent game otherwise and tried to step out of defence to get moves going, which Town needed more of. 5
Ben Wiles (for Austerfield 46) - Didn’t bring any real improvement to the Town midfield despite offering a bit more movement. 5
Jaheim Headley (for Koroma 46) - A more natural fit for the wing-back role, though later move to out-and-out left-back limited his capacity to get forward. 5
Brahima Diarra (for Ward 61) - Replaced Thomas at right wing-back with the Welshman moving up top before going on the wing in a 4-3-3 for the closing stages. The usual ‘lots of willing, no end product’ performance. 5
Rarmani Edmonds-Green (for Pearson 65) - Fielded on the right of the back three after Pearson went down injured. Still bafflingly unable to pass a simple ball five yards at times and failed to show the required urgency. 3
Subs not used: Lee Nicholls, Loick Ayina, Tom Edwards, Tom Iorpenda.
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