Two areas for Huddersfield Town to focus on before season begins

Four friendlies down and three to go as the Terriers prepare for a new League One campaign

From what we’ve seen so far, there are two main things that Martin Drury will be keen to drill into his players over the final two-and-a-half weeks of pre-season.

With four friendlies now done and dusted, Huddersfield Town have just three more pressure-free games to sharpen themselves up before the new campaign begins.

The Terriers will play a couple of behind-closed-doors friendlies this weekend, with Oldham Athletic coming to Canalside on Friday afternoon before Town travel to Middlesbrough’s training ground on Saturday lunchtime. Insert your own gag about watching from the bushes here.

Blackburn Rovers will then visit the Accu Stadium the following Saturday, with the competitive season getting under way against Preston North End at Goodison Park on Saturday 8 August.

Across their summer friendlies so far, Town have repeatedly failed to convert the number of chances they’ve created into goals.

They hit the post and crossbar multiple times against both Birmingham and Fylde, and were wasteful again as they fell to a 2-1 defeat to Fleetwood.

We’ve lost count of the number of chances Joe Taylor, in particular, has enjoyed this summer, only to be denied by a combination of goalkeepers, the woodwork, and offside flags both valid and questionable. His frustration was evident towards the end of his time on the pitch at Fleetwood.

Even the penalty Town won late on against the Fishermen was squandered. A trialist goalkeeper denied young Sahil Bashir after the academy youngsters took over for the final 25 minutes.

The positive here, naturally — beyond the obvious benefit of sharpening the players up — is that Town have consistently managed to create openings against different standards and styles of opposition.