Huddersfield Town

- David Wagner previews HTAFC vs Boro

- Head Coach excited to see his team perform again

- Wagner focused on ability of his players

Boro may be one of the Sky Bet Championship’s promotion favourites, but Wagner is focusing on what his own players can do rather than worrying about the threats of the visitors. 

“I think they’ve done a good job in the past; they try to play football on the pitch,” David said of Saturday’s opposition.

“It’s the same as I’ve said in the past. I respect Middlesbrough and the Club’s Manager and we try to get all the information on the opponent that we can get. They will do something different to Sheffield Wednesday. 

“However, in the end we will try to play our game. Whether we play away or at home, we try to look at ourselves and play our own game. The way we like to play will always be the same. 

“Our plan is to have speed and 100% passion in our game; full throttle football. We want a good transition game and will show everybody that we work hard. 

“I am excited about this game because I have a lot of trust that my team will show again what it did against Sheffield and make another step forward. I’m very happy to have the next game and hopefully, at the end, we will have the right result as we’ve won this game. 

“For me, it is not interesting who is the favourite and who is the underdog. This is a game against a very good team but when the whistle starts the game, we will try to win. 

“Thinking about this game negatively before it even begins would be completely the wrong idea. I know we have enough quality to keep this game open. There will be some key points and if they go in our direction, we will be able to win this game.” 

After performing well for 70 minutes against Sheffield Wednesday last weekend, David believes the players will make further steps forward after more work on the pitch at PPG Canalside.

“The progress happens every day. I think they are a few steps further on now because we’ve had another five days of training since the Sheffield game. I’m sure we’ve been able to develop over those five days, but I’m also sure we need more days and weeks to develop. 

“In the end, the most important thing is to bring it on the pitch each Saturday. We can have self-confidence because there were a lot of good moments in the last game and we’ve now analysed and worked on the moments that weren’t so good. 

“Rome wasn’t built in a day. We will build up much faster than Rome did, but it will take time!”

Wagner believes a focus on the performance will bring the results that propel the Terriers up the Championship ladder:

“We are professionals and nobody likes to be at the bottom of the table, but we are realistic. We know we are in a good way and in the end we will get results, I am sure. 

“Morale is very important. I think everyone believes and trusts in what we want to do, not only because of the training but also because of what we did at Sheffield. That is the most important point.” 

David also commented on the role the home faithful can play come 3pm Saturday:

“At the end, I think we are the ones to get the crowd loud. Enough supporters will be there on Saturday and they can help us a lot. In the right moment they can push us and make things easier, but we have to make them excited.”

Wagner will be without the services of Harry Bunn (suspended) and Mustapha Carayol (ineligible) on Saturday, but he is confident the players handed the opportunity in their place will thrive:

“First of all, it is never nice if I am missing some players because of suspension, injury or anything else.

“However, we have enough quality in our squad to make up for this. We have some ideas in our head on how we’d like do this. 

“We’ve had a good week up until now and there will be somebody who fills these gaps. I could choose two players for positions on a Saturday, but I can only choose one! We have enough players who are able to play the style and the positions; not just one. Everything is OK. 

“I’ve had a lot from a few players in the last few days and now I have to make the decisions and find good solutions. We have some possibilities for Saturday, as the players are in a good way. 

“I’m very happy that Jamie Paterson is back; he has developed in training and built up his fitness. The same goes for Jonathan Hogg.

“Ben (Chilwell) now knows all our names! You can also recognise he feels more confident in the group.” 

To finish, David confirmed he will definitely be without three players through injury too:

“Our Sports Science people expect ‘Murph’ to miss four weeks with the ankle injury he got in Sheffield. Nothing has changed with Philip Billing and Joel Lynch too.”