Huddersfield Town

Robins introduced fit-again Danny Ward to great effect on Tuesday night and he admitted he is looking forward to working with the former Bolton man.

“Danny is alright at the moment. He started training on Wednesday and got a little kick on the back of his leg, so we’re waiting to hear on the physio’s report on it. It’s nothing too sinister,” Mark explained.

“The other injuries are progressing. We want them all back on the pitch as soon as possible and we’re impatient on that front, because if I can get a full complement out on the pitch it changes the picture totally. It would give me more options. 

“You can’t rush injuries back though. Danny was fit, but he’s not had minutes on the pitch to make him strong as he’s been out with the metatarsal injury. He played on adrenaline for 20 minutes the other night, but he more than came through it because his cameo performance was fantastic. His challenge now is to stay fit and perform to that level for the duration of the game. 

“I know he’s capable because I’ve seen a lot of him over the years. He’s a big plus for us.”

Regardless of the personnel, Town’s Manager is looking to build on a very encouraging performance and result against Middlesbrough on Tuesday night. 

He continued: “Whoever we have available we have to go and perform to the same standards as Tuesday night, because we set them then – both in terms of passing on the ball and fighting off it. From back to front, I thought they were all excellent. If we can hit those levels consistently we won’t be worrying about what’s behind us, that’s for sure – we’ll be looking up. We are only three points away from mid-table.

“The media will talk about what is happening down below, but we want to focus on the next game and climbing the table. There is no point in looking behind – we want to look up and get where we want to be. It’s all about our performances. 

“They went 1-0 up on Tuesday night and it would have been a demoralising defeat, there’s no doubt about it. Their goal came against the run of play and I think we had done more than enough; we just didn’t take our chances in the first half. When that happens you always run the risk of conceding, especially when you have the likes of Scott McDonald against you. 

“Credit to the players though, because they stuck to it and didn’t let their heads go down. We spoke about Saturday’s game at Brighton, where their second goal affected our confidence and the reaction to the goal wasn’t brilliant, but credit to the players because conceding the goal against Middlesbrough didn’t affect them. We continued to attack and got our just rewards and the winner was the icing on the cake.” 

With James Vaughan suspended, Robins – who also confirmed Anthony Gerrard should be fit for Saturday – opted for a front two of Lee Novak and Theo Robinson on Tuesday night and he believes they will score goals. 

“They work their socks off and are a threat. They will cause problems to the opposition and they will get their rewards for it. They have quality and they can score goals – they have proved that over the years. They just have to continue to do what they’re asking.”

Charlton Athletic are the visitors on Saturday and Robins knows they will be a difficult test for his side:

“We’ve played Charlton twice already this season, winning one and drawing one, and they are a hard-working team with some quality. They get some cracking runs from (Johnnie) Jackson in the middle of the pitch, who is capable of a decent finish, and I know Danny Haynes very well, who has grabbed a couple of goals recently. 

“They have some pace out wide and some young players coming in, so there is a real mixture. They will also fight and scrap and they have a good collection of players there.

“We know we can compete at this level. We can take confidence from the other night and we’ll go into this game full of confidence. We want to try and get better from the other night’s performance – we can get more shots on target and more balls and bodies into the box. 

“We also can’t get carried away. We have to remain grounded and continue to work as hard as we can do, doing things in the right way – with a bit of quality.”