Huddersfield Town player verdicts as pre-season kicks off against Birmingham City
The Terriers played their first friendly of the summer out in Portugal, falling to a 3-1 defeat with George Sebine on the scoresheet
First half
Matty Young
Saved Demarai Gray’s penalty down to his left, only for the Birmingham man to tap home the rebound. Not forced to work otherwise. Did the sweeper-keeper thing a couple of times — clearly confident with the ball at his feet.
Radinio Balker
Helped give Young a quiet 45 minutes with a decent showing at centre-back.
Murray Wallace
Typically composed showing. Got across well to cover for Balker early on. Lovely header down for Taylor after staying up from a long throw.
Sean Roughan
Fielded in that hybrid centre-back/left-back role he has made his own, but edging more towards left-back than we saw last season, other than when Town were defending the box. Won his challenges well when called upon, and made a storming run up the left before picking out Taylor’s run with an early cross — great vision.
Lasse Sorensen
Played a familiar end-to-end role from right-back, and was given the run of his flank in a 3-4-2-1. Busy in the first 15 minutes or so, with Town largely attacking up the other side or going early to Joe Taylor thereafter.
Ryan Ledson
Didn’t treat it like a friendly and received a bit of a word from the referee for a (completely clean but) stiff sliding tackle. Quickly closed down as he tried to reach a hospital pass from Bali Mumba on the way to Birmingham’s penalty.
Marcus McGuane
Looked to be in good nick. Used his strength well to draw a man and then shield the ball, creating space for Tom Iorpenda ahead of him. Showed his passing quality on a couple of occasions.
Bali Mumba
Gave away Birmingham’s penalty after playing Town into trouble in the first place by giving Ledson a misdirected pass he didn’t want on the edge of the box. Had a promisingly bright half otherwise, though. Beat his man multiple times to get Town up the left from wing-back. Had a strong-looking penalty shout turned down at the other end moments later, and nearly scored a fortuitous goal in the process as a clearance hit him on the ground and needed clearing off the goal line.
Marcus Harness
Picked up where he left off last season. Showed some deft feet to get past his man, and was a bit unlucky that a nice ball over the top for Taylor was cut out by the keeper coming out of his box just before half time.
Tom Iorpenda
Played to the left of Harness and Taylor in a front three in the press, and operated as a left-sided ten in possession. Covered plenty of ground on and off the ball and got into some decent positions up the left, but couldn’t find the final ball.
Joe Taylor
Made some excellent runs to earn chances for himself, but just couldn’t finish them off: thwarted by Ryan Allsop’s long arms as he tried to take it round him, shanked one well off target, and put a shot straight at the keeper off Roughan’s early ball in Town’s best opening of the half.
Second half
Jak Alnwick
Virtually nothing he could do other than picking it out of the net three times, the first of which was ruled out for offside.
Lynden Gooch
Looked a good attacking threat from right-back. Fabulous ball from just outside the Town box to send George Sebine one-on-one with a defender on a swift break. Was taken off at the water break in a planned change.
Jack Whatmough
Great to see him back in action over ten months after his last first-team outing. Sharp and forward-looking with the ball. May be a bit disappointed to have lost track of Kyogo on Birmingham’s second goal.
Joe Low
Had a dangerous header well saved on the second ball from a long throw, flicked on by Sebine. Bullied the Birmingham front line at times, but gave away a third very poor goal for Town to concede with a needless pass straight to an attacker.
Max Murray
Put in a capable performance at left-back. Got the chance to show off his incredible long throw.
Antony Evans
Relatively quiet game in midfield, but it was more just about getting minutes into him at this point after the season he just had. Understandably took exception to a clumsy challenge midway through the half. Gave the ball away cheaply from inside his own box on the way to Birmingham's second goal.
Ethan Brierley
The most promising showing of the new faces. Can already see what he offers Town in the press — never shy about hassling defenders on the edge of their own third. Was on set-piece duty and put in a great delivery right down Brad Mayo’s throat from which the keeper was a bit fortunate to draw a foul from Ashley Fletcher. Lovely cross from deep on the left for Town’s late goal.
Dan Vost
Initially played on the right wing before shifting over to the left when Gooch went off. Nice delivery for Sebine to flick on for Low. Good energy and clean in combat.
Ashley Fletcher
Got minutes under his belt playing at number 10 just behind Sebine, which is not a role we’d expect to see him in too much in the season ahead. His presence in the box helped create Sebine’s late goal.
Jay Sway
One of the stars of a successful under-21s side last season. Came on to play at left wing-back before switching to the right after Gooch’s withdrawal. Looked bright and willing to dribble past his man. Much too slow to react to the looping cross for Birmingham’s second goal, and lost track of his man as a result to allow him a free header back across goal. Knocked it down for Sebine to score…not sure he knew too much about it but that’s what can happen if you’re in the right place for it.
George Sebine
Surprised Birmingham with his pace on a couple of occasions, and had a defender scrambling with a run from the halfway line to reach Gooch’s ball, but was just forced to too narrow an angle to apply a convincing finish. Nice flick-on for Low’s chance. Put the ball away confidently to score for Town with the last kick of the game.
Substitutes
David Kasumu (for Gooch 72) — Took over from Vost on the right wing.
Unused substitutes: Ilias Bronkhorst