Young Terriers work on attacking elements ahead of Mansfield

- Huddersfield Town Under-17s return to league action against Mansfield Town
- Young Terriers round off work on the build of an attack
- Coach George Danaher pleased with how the group battled

Huddersfield Town Under-17s finished off their work on the build of an attack on Saturday (19 September 2020) when they took on Mansfield Town.

The build has been the main focus of the Young Terriers during their last few fixtures, with Saturday’s match against Mansfield the final one with this focus before the group move onto the next stage of their training.

Mansfield started the quicker of the two sides, grabbing two goals in the opening minutes of the game from the penalty spot and through a set piece routine.

Although, as the game went on and changes were made, the Young Terriers wrestled back control, dominating possession, looking to build from the back, persisting with every loose ball and pushing their opponents deep into their own territory.

And the shift that the Under-17s put in was very pleasing for Academy Coach George Danaher, who took charge of the side on Saturday.

“It was positive from start to finish, these games are difficult but from what I’ve seen today, from what we’ve been working on like the build, emotion, one vs one duels, the battling and desire to win the ball back, it was fantastic,” he said.

“The goals are moments that are going to happen, one was a slip leading to the penalty and one was a set piece, but what’s important for me is the reaction after those, and today from the lads it was outstanding.

“The changes were made so that in the second half we could dominate the game in possession. I thought the lads that came on were outstanding, controlled the game, dominated the ball, which is what we want, and how we want to play.

“The reaction whenever we lost the ball was great, we pinned them in for pretty much all of the second half, so it was an ideal performance from everyone.

“A massive part of our structure is the challenge we give to our players. We want to give the players a high challenge, but also high support. I think putting them out there today was a fantastic challenge and one that they all came through very well.”

The Under-17s will now move onto a new focus in training with the create phase, with an emphasis on progression up the pitch using the build phase to then create chances, and next face Rotherham away from home in the EFL Youth Alliance League.

Town’s Under-17 Team (4-3-3)

Michael Roxburgh; Shane Maroodza (Neo Eccleston, 64’), David Adewoju, Josh Okpolokpo ©, Michael Stone; Ernaldo Krasniqi, Darnel Baxter-Alleyne (Andre Edionhon, 75’), Charles Nduwuisi-Ondo (Jeremy Stewart, 75’); Donay O’Brien-Brady, Robson Shipley (Sonny Whittingham, 45’), Gulutte Zunda

Mansfield Town 2-0 Huddersfield Town Under-17s