Caretaker Manager on the Capital One Cup win
Caretaker Manager Mark Lillis thought the extra time Capital One Cup win at Chesterfield tonight was a timely boost for the Club after a difficult start to the season.
Town’s side was 2-0 and 3-1 down to its League 1 host, but fought back hard to win 5-3 thanks to a Nahki Wells hat-trick and goals for Jon Stead and Joe Lolley.
“At 3-1 down with eight minutes to go, I was thinking that we needed to get something to lift the Club. Tonight was massive for everyone – particularly the 853 Town fans that came here tonight. We needed that boost after Saturday,” Mark told htafc.com.
“The word ‘believe’ has been used before at Huddersfield Town and that’s what I said to the players before they went out – go out there and have no regrets at the end of the game.
“We also told the players to take care with the ball and we didn’t do that for their second goal, which meant we went into half-time 2-0 down. We looked at it and changed the shape, which worked. We just put round pegs in round holes.
“Even when we were behind we told them to keep working at it and we got our bit of luck with the third goal. After that we played some really good stuff. Hopefully we will get a Premier League side in the next round now.”
Mark was pleased with every player on his side, but picked out a few players for special praise:
“I thought (Conor) Coady was different class – he grew in stature and was a man for us tonight. That’s what we need at this club – players like that. If our players keep learning and playing for the shirt, the future is ok.
“We looked at Steady and he was quite bright in pre-season. His move back to the Club hasn’t gone as well as it could so far, but he deserves credit for keeping his head down and working hard. I thought he led the line fantastically well and he got a goal as well.
“Nahki Wells’ three goals will give him a really good boost. Things didn’t go his way in the first-half, but we needed to get him scoring and I’m so pleased for the lads.”
Next up for the Terriers is Saturday’s tough Championship test at Cardiff City, which Lillis will now start planning for.
“We’ll need all the players, starting at Cardiff on Saturday – even the ones who didn’t get on or make the bench tonight. I told the players who weren’t involved tonight why I left them out. We might not go with the same team, because they put in a full shift tonight. We’ll have a look at the bodies we’ve got tomorrow.
“The Championship is a long, hard season – but we have to get the players to understand and believe that they are Championship players. We have to raise the bar here.
“I think the lads have bought into what I’ve told them, so full credit to them. I believe in this group, but we have to show what we’re capable of.
“I’ll plan for Saturday and then we’ll have a chat after that.”
