Young Huddersfield Town midfielder developing from physical stimulus

- Josh Austerfield speaks ahead of Under-17s game against Oldham
- Midfielder enjoying physical test of the Youth Alliance League
- Austerfield also playing for Town’s Under-19s

Young Huddersfield Town midfielder Josh Austerfield explains how he’s really benefitting from the physical stimulus of playing in the U18 Youth Alliance League.

Town’s Under-17s have been competing with sides that are a year older than them to provide them with more physical games.

When speaking at the start of the season, the midfielder expressed his desire to develop physically, something that has happened over the last few months.

“It feels like I’ve come on a lot since the start of the season. Pre-season was good learning the system and I feel like I’ve developed that more over the season.

“It’s been good because it’s more of a physical challenge rather than a technical challenge, so it meant I could work on the physicality more. As I get older and bigger it’ll become easier because I’ll have dealt with it before.

“I’ve started to deal and take the contact rather than not want it. I get hit most weeks and now I’m able to deal with it, so it’s getting better and better.”

At the beginning of the season, Josh – who has been at Town since the age of Under-8s – tried to lead by example to help the new recruits settle in.

“I wanted to set an example in the summer because I’ve been here a long time. There were a lot of new lads in the summer and we saw it a lot last year too, so I thought they’d be able to follow the way I did things around the building because I know what Brombs (Leigh Bromby) and the other coaches wanted.

“You want the lads to understand the way everything works to get on with it. We want everything to help us improve and for that everything needs to be right around the building.”

Josh has started 22 games for the Under-17s this season and has since progressed into Dean Whitehead’s Under-19s.

He explained to htafc.com what that’s been like for him and how the different tests are broadening his horizons.

“The Under-19s have been really good, it’s a lot quicker and faster. I’ve been playing men’s teams over here and more technical teams abroad, so its been different but good.

“Playing against men was a massive test. You have to take the physicality out of it and just treat it like football but focus on ways of getting around the physicality.

“Going to Spain took us away from the bad weather, which was good, but it was a lot different. Over here we are used to dominating the ball and create chances, but over there we were looking to defend, sit off and counter.

“You want to learn both styles because you never know when you’ll need them, you’ll never have the same scenarios in the game.”

Whilst adapting to those styles, the Academy has also introduced Jan Siewert’s style of play into training.

Josh is excited to use that system on the pitch.

“We’ve started especially today, brought in new movement patterns that we want to implement into our game.

“It’s been good so far, we are learning it, understanding it and then we will implement it, it’s difficult but I’m enjoying learning new ways to play.

“We want to move the ball quickly, so we can create more chances.”

Huddersfield Town’s Under-17s face Oldham Athletic in the U18 Youth Alliance League on Saturday 16 February 2019.

The game is free for supporters to watch, kicking off at 11am on the pitches over the canal.