Bermudian striker loving life under David Wagner
Club News
NAHKI: WE’RE ENJOYING OUR FOOTBALL
6 December 2015
- Nahki Wells reviews win over Birmingham City
- Bermudian says players 'are enjoying their football again'
- Striker adamant focus is on performances
Nahki Wells says Town’s players will go into next weekend’s home game against Bristol City ‘with their tails up’ after Saturday’s win at Birmingham City.
The Bermudian striker has played in all three games under new Head Coach David Wagner and tells htafc.com that the weekend 2-0 win was just what the performances have merited.
“The signs of encouragement had been there, but we had to put a total performance in and score a couple of goals. We also wanted to keep a clean sheet playing in that manner and we did that on Saturday.
“We played some good football in the first half, but the conditions made things difficult in the second. We stayed patient and all credit to the centre halves, the full backs and midfielders. It was an all-round good performance.
“I’m happy to be on the scoresheet, but more importantly I think the win was what we needed to catapult us into a better position and to go into the next run of games with our tails up, as confident as ever.
“To go out there and put into play what he wants us to do, whilst playing slightly differently against Birmingham than we did against Boro, we’re all happy. We’re glad to see the three points on the board.”
The Terriers scored barely 30 seconds into Saturday’s win at St. Andrew’s through Joe Lolley after a swift attacking move and Wells heralded the importance of scoring first in any game:
“It was a great goal; almost everyone was involved in the play. That’s what we needed, as we knew an early goal was important. It makes it so much easier. If a team goes in front, their tails go up and they can make it very hard for the opposition to score.
“We knew when we took the lead that there was only going to be one winner. We rode our luck at times, which you need to do sometimes, but I thought there was always going to be a point where we got the second and thankfully it dropped to me.”
Wells’ goal, which came around 10 minutes from time, was his fifth of the campaign and his first in four appearances but like Wagner said after the Birmingham win, his focus has been on performing over goal-getting.
“I think I’ve been playing well. I’ve tried to take the focus off worrying about scoring goals and concentrated on putting in good performances, which I’ve done. I knew the goal would come and I’m happy it has; it gives me something to build on next week.”
Wagner made a point of praising Wells’ contribution to the team’s counter-pressing style, calling the Bermudian ‘his first defender’ and complimenting his work rate.
Nahki continued: “It starts from me, then into (Jamie) Paterson and the wingers, who come infield. We’re not just important on the ball; we are off it too.
“I’ve always enjoyed watching this style of play and now I have the chance to play it. I must say it’s impressive and enjoyable. It gives you a higher probability of creating more chances if you win the ball in the last third; we’ve shown that.
“It is very hard; you have to be fit enough to work hard off the ball, not just be good on it. The more and more we train hard and practise what we are doing, it will become more natural. We’re training as hard as we play and it’s paying off.
“It’s not been hard to understand what the Head Coach wants us to do and we’ve took to it. I think it suits the majority of the players that we have and we’re all playing with confidence and enjoying our football again.
“Until we got the chance to put it in place in a game there will have been questions over whether we can make it work, but we knew this was good after 25 minutes at Sheffield Wednesday.
“This style of football is what the top European clubs play and you don’t tend to see big strikers in those teams. I’ve always said I can play up front on my own as long as we play in the right manner. We’re doing that now and I’m enjoying it.
“I have plenty of creative players behind me and although I would like more chances to have fallen my way, they are dropping to other players and if they are scoring it doesn’t matter.”
Now the Terriers go into back-to-back home games against Bristol City and Rotherham United – both just £10 for adults at the gate – and Wells reiterated that the focus is on performing to the same standard as the last three outings:
“The Head Coach has stressed that we only need to worry about ourselves.
“We put in a great performance in our last home game against a side that will probably go up last year and that was probably the most positive our fans have been at our stadium since I’ve been at Huddersfield.
“We’re now returning home on the back of a good win and a good last home performance. We can’t look past anyone, but we’ll look to get six points from the two home games. It’s a must for us if we want to continue moving forward.”
It's just £10 at the gate for adults for the home game against Bristol City on Saturday!
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