David reviews the draw against the Tigers
- David Wagner reviews 2-2 draw with Hull City- Head Coach happy with his team's performance
- Wagner praises Rajiv van La Parra
Huddersfield Town Head Coach David Wagner was happy to see his side’s performance level return in today’s 2-2 draw against Hull City.
The Terriers were denied all three points by Adama Diomande’s 93rd minute leveller, but David was still happy to see his side’s performance improve after the recent defeats to Sheffield Wednesday and Middlesbrough.
“I think it was a good game from both sides. There were a lot of chances,” David told htafc.com.
“At the end, I am happy with the performance the boys delivered today. We were back! This is what we expected from ourselves; to show our reaction and our good game, which is what we did today.
“Of course, conceding the equaliser in the 93rd minute hurts a little bit, but I thought this result was fair. I’ve been in the game long enough to know it’s only over at the final whistle.
“We looked in a good way, but Hull is a strong side and if you have one moment where you don’t attack them as aggressively as you should to avoid the centre this happens. We’re a little unlucky that it took a touch, but mistakes happen; they are part of the game.
“The timing wasn’t the best today, but I can accept this result as we showed a great reaction to the last game and a good performance.”
Wagner explained that he approached today’s game with a different plan after the last two games:
“We’ve tried to learn from the last two defeats against top teams in the table and we changed our style a little bit today. We’ve tried to develop a ‘Plan B’ against the top teams of the table.
“We played from a deeper position, with the idea of the counter, and I think it worked most of the time.
“We have to find a new idea to be successful against the top teams and I think today was a good step in the right direction.”
David handed Rajiv van La Parra a home debut and the Dutchman earned the ‘Man of the Match’ award. Wagner was happy with what he saw:
“I think it was a very good performance from Rajiv. He’s understanding our idea more and more and he’s a very interesting player for our style.
“I think everyone can now see why we did this transfer a few weeks ago. I’m very happy that he showed how good he can be today.
“We now have to make sure we build up his fitness so he has enough power on the pitch. I’ve told him we’ll need the next five or six weeks to make that happen, so maybe he was a little bit surprised that he started today. However, I wanted to give him the opportunity to show his potential against a strong side and he used the chance.
“I thought he deserved the applause he received from the crowd.”
With Town nine points clear of MK Dons in the final relegation position with five games to go, David has a clear target for his side for the rest of the season.
“There is a long, long time to go, but with this point we are able to look forward.
“The table is tight and now we want to close the gap between the teams in the middle of the table. Leeds United is just two points above us in 15th and we will try to get there before the end of the season. We will try everything and attack 15th place, because I think this is the maximum we can reach this season.
“It is also important we maintain our performance level as we showed today.”
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