Huddersfield Town

- David Wagner previews Brentford game

- Head Coach happy with performance of his squad

- Wagner expecting 'good game' against the Bees

The Terriers go into the match on the back of Tuesday night’s 2-0 home win over Rotherham United, but David was adamant that has changed nothing in the run-up to the weekend.

“If you win games it normally makes life easier, but in the end we have to do the work with or without. We’ve had the normal week that we expected since the game on Tuesday,” David explained to htafc.com.

“I think it is normal to work hard; it is nothing special. In my opinion, it is the same in any job; you need to work hard. I have the feeling that everybody recognises the steps the players have made in the right direction and any success is because of work. 

“I think we are building up a very good relationship with the group, which is very important. I like to know what they are thinking about and to be close to them so I can feel the atmosphere. It is important to give them the right input at the right moment.” 

As he detailed after the midweek victory, David is hoping to have at least one extra player available for selection at Griffin Park:

“Hopefully Emyr (Huws) and Martin Cranie will come with us to Brentford. Everybody else from the last game is healthy, so we have nearly the same squad as Tuesday.

“I believe Philip Billing will train with us for the first time on the pitch today (Friday) too. He will be one more alternative in our squad and I’m happy he is back. I have to say he impressed me in the game against Leeds and what I saw in the game before (at Reading) on video. 

“This will be the first time I am together with Phil on the pitch, so it is interesting and exciting to see how fast he understands what I want from him; in the past, he has only seen it from the outside. I think he has football intelligence, so I think he will do it quickly.” 

Wagner successfully freshened up his side with four changes on Tuesday night, whilst the three subs made a real impact on the match. Rotation of his squad is something he likes, he explained:

“We have good quality in our squad, with a lot of players fit and in good form. That is perfect for us to give the team new, fresh, positive energy from the bench and in the last two games it has worked. That makes me very happy.

“The squad is self-confident too. The players starting the game can go full throttle from the beginning, because when their tank is empty they will get help from the bench. That is something very positive and we will do it in the future again if everyone is in form, fit and knows the work they have to do.” 

Another big positive was an excellent first goal of the season for striker Ishmael Miller.

Wagner continued: “I recognise that everybody is speaking about this goal. I like that, because it will give him confidence. 

“I was satisfied with the other side of his game too. He was able to protect the ball, which isn’t easy, and that allowed us to play our possession game from his position. He also did well when he came on last Saturday.

“It is important to have someone who can help us and Nahki in the right moments. That lets Nahki get his rest, because he has done a perfect job in the past having played nearly every game.” 

Although David is focused on the performance of his side rather than the opposition, he did give his thoughts on Saturday’s opposition:

“It is important that I can give the squad all the information they need about the opponent. 

“We will meet a team on Saturday that plays football on the pitch. They have good footballers and are able to score, but they sometimes have some problems in defence. 

“I think it could be a good football game, because both teams try to play football on the pitch. 

“I think one key point will be which team is able to disturb the idea of the other team more. Hopefully we will fight on Saturday and make sure it is very uncomfortable for the opponent to play against us. It cannot be fun to play against us and it is a very good sign if that is the case.” 

The media asked David about his preparations for the January transfer window to finish Friday morning’s press conference, but the Head Coach was adamant that there is only one focus at the moment:

“Being honest, I am not thinking about transfers at the moment. Tomorrow we have a very important game before several others over Christmas, so my focus is on those.”