Smithies positive ahead of first league match on home soil
Town ‘keeper Alex Smithies believes he and his teammates are heading in the right direction following Tuesday’s victory over Bradford.
A new formation and a new style of football was on show during the Capital One Cup first round victory as Town booked their place to play Charlton Athletic in the second round.
“We were good against Bradford and it is important that we carry the momentum gained into Saturday’s game,” said Alex. “I think we deserved a point against Forest last week; we were very solid and they rarely threatened my goal. We left the City Ground disappointed, but I think we showed on Tuesday night that we are moving in the right direction.
“The Manager doesn’t want us to see the ball being kicked long,” he added. “When possible he wants me to get the ball on the floor and find a defender, which is the way that we all want to play and makes for a more attractive brand of football. Hopefully it will be more entertaining for the fans to watch, but most importantly, we hope that it will earn us some victories.”
It remains to be seen if Mark Robins will stick with three central defenders or revert back to two for the QPR match, but Alex felt that the system worked well.
“There are more options when looking to distribute the ball and defensively we are more solid through the middle,” he said. “It is definitely different from my point of view, as it does mean that we have more bodies in the box to help us defend.
“We tried to match Hull – who play a similar formation – when we played them away from home last season,” Alex continued. “We hadn’t worked on it enough, though, and it didn’t quite work. If the manager chooses to play with three at the back and we put plenty of hard work in on the training ground, I think it could be a good system for us.”
Looking ahead to Saturday’s match, Alex is confident that the Terriers can record their first points of the season.
“They have got some massive names within their ranks and a very good manager; they are a massive club in this league. Saturday’s game is the type of match that you want to play in. We are on our home patch and if we play like we did on Tuesday we have a chance of winning. The league is hugely competitive and any team can beat anyone on any given day. It is important that we show QPR respect, but don’t fear them. We believe we can beat them.”