Steve reviews U21’s 2-1 defeat at Sheff Utd
Huddersfield Town’s Senior Professional Development Coach Steve Eyre was happy with the work rate and desire from his side despite today’s Under-21 League defeat at Sheffield United.
A single goal from overage player Jonathan Stead was all Town had to show from this afternoon’s game at Shirecliffe, with United netting a goal in each half to grab all three points.
The defeat was the Development Squad’s first in the League this season and came just a week after the Under-21s secured their first place finish in the Northern section, with 13 straight wins and an opening day draw from their 14 games.
With that in mind Eyre was keen for his side to continue its momentum and told htafc.com after the final whistle that he couldn’t fault the commitment of the players.
“It definitely wasn’t a case of us winning the League early and easing down; the effort from the players was up to the usual high level. Unfortunately, we were defeated by an odd goal in three in a very hard game.
“Both sides were fighting for inches throughout the 90 minutes such was the stalemate in the game. In the end it took a very debatable penalty decision in Sheffield United’s favour to separate the two sides,” Steve explained, referring to United’s 66th minute winner from the spot after Jordan Sinnott was penalised for a foul.
Town fielded several players in unfamiliar positions for the game; three of the back four were midfielders or forwards by trade. Despite this, Eyre knows that the team was capable of a higher level of performance than it produced on the afternoon.
“I know what the players’ attributes are and equally, at this stage of their careers, what they cannot do. On the day, not enough of the players brought their attributes to this very difficult game. That made it difficult for the team to flourish as it has done in every previous game this season.”
