Town’s Captain previews the game at Hull
- Mark Hudson previews Town's game at Hull City
- Huddersfield Captain says new players have added to the squad
- Skipper targeting improvement on 2014/15
Captain Mark Hudson wants Town’s team to stamp its authority on the game when it kicks off the 2015/16 Sky Bet Championship season at Hull City on Saturday.
Now the pre-season preparations are over, the Terriers take on the Tigers in Saturday’s match at the KC Stadium.
Hudson, 33, has played an important role behind the scenes in helping Town’s five summer recruits – Dean Whitehead, Jason Davidson, Kyle Dempsey, Jordy Hiwula and Martin Cranie – settle into life at PPG Canalside and he believes their early arrival has made that job easier.
“Everyone has settled in really well; that’s no surprise as we’ve got quite a good group here and we got them in early. Its part and parcel of being at a club that you make sure everyone is happy and moving in the same direction,” Mark told htafc.com.
“The new players have all added bits to the squad we had last year, which is great. I’m particularly pleased we’ve brought Dean (Whitehead) in as he’s a similar age to me and has been around the game, which will help our young group.”
Town’s pre-season results have not been to Mark’s liking, but he was adamant that it will be a whole different ball game come 3pm on Saturday:
“People can look a bit too much into results during pre-season; they are what they are. You can’t replicate the atmosphere and intensity of the opening day; it’s totally different to a pre-season game. We’ve focussed on getting minutes and ideas on board.
“It’s probably better that a few things to work on cropped up during pre-season, because it’s given us time to work on them on the training field. Hopefully we’ve sorted those in time for the season.
“I’m not going to sit here and say I’m happy with the number of goals we’ve conceded, but we’ve learned from it and hopefully we’ve put it right. Obviously we will concede goals in the season, so it’s as much about how we bounce back when we do.”
Hudson and co couldn’t have asked for a more difficult start to the season than the match against Steve Bruce’s newly relegated Tigers, but the skipper explained that Town’s players should relish the challenge – and focus on their own performances.
“They’ll be looking to get going and get points on the board to stay high up the League, as they’ll want to bounce back as quickly as they can,” Mark said of Hull City.
“We know it’s going to be a tough task, because they have quality. They’re still trying to add to that, which they might do before the game. We’ll see what plan they have from the players they bring in, but going there is a tough game regardless of who plays.
“I think this is a good game to start with; one I’m looking forward to. The start of the season is always an exciting time and at this stage, nobody has any form to go into the game. If we were to play Hull in September, they might be flying, so this might be a good time to play them.
“We have to set our stall out to achieve what we want to. We will look to stamp our authority on the game and play the way we know we can. If we do that, we will be alright. Any result away at Hull will be a good result and will give us a good platform to build upon.”
Beyond Saturday’s opener, Mark admitted that the squad has a target in mind – but would go no further than suggesting improvement on the Club’s 16th placed finishing position in 2014/15 is paramount.
“We’ve got a points total we’ve been looking at over the last week or so. We know where we should be. We’re looking to improve on last year by picking up where we left off form-wise at the end of last season. I think that’s all realistic for us.
“We want to make a good start to really get going. The games come around quickly, so you never have time to dwell on anything. We have to be ready to get points on the board as quickly as we can, but we’re under no illusions about our tough start.
“You must be ambitious as an individual and as a group, from the Manager right through the squad. For now, we’ll keep our target to ourselves and just say we’re looking for a progression from last year.
“Personally, I look at the defensive record. We’ve got good creative players, but we need to gel as a unit and defend better as a squad. There were definitely games we could have got something out of last season that we didn’t, so we’ve been looking at improving on a number of little things.”
Subject to availability, tickets for this game will be available from the John Smiths Stadium Ticket Office until 4pm on Friday; click HERE for price info.
As of 4pm on Thursday, 250 of Town's allocation remain available.
This is an ALL TICKET fixture for Town Supporters and there will be no availability on the day.
