Chris reviews the 1-0 win at Wigan
Chris Powell said every man in a Huddersfield Town shirt played their part in today’s 1-0 away win at Wigan Athletic.
It might have been a first away win in three months for the Terriers, but the victory means Town have now taken 10 points from the last five games and moves them level on points with 12th placed Nottingham Forest in the Sky Bet Championship table.
“They’ve been a long time coming,” Chris said of the away win and clean sheet.
“I thought we were very good on a tough pitch in a tense atmosphere; obviously both sides wanted the points. We recognised all week that this was the start of three huge games in our season.
“Wigan are away at Ipswich next week, so they will have targeted today’s game – but we did too. I saw the Chairman yesterday and told him this was a game we needed to come through to see what sort of players we have here. I thought they were excellent, to a man.
“They all played their part. Wigan cleared two off their line in the first-half and I felt that over the balance of play, we maybe should have been the victors. It was a hard-fought game.
“Despite that, it took a fortuitous goal. Conor (Coady) is claiming he knew what he was doing, so I’ll take it! He’s a good finisher and should score more goals, but he’s given up part of his midfield play when we’ve played ‘Hoggy’ and Jacob in there because he sits to allow the other two to go forward. That’s part of the reason we brought David Edgar in; he wants to do that.
“I felt we could get at them at half-time, but Wigan took the game to us at the start of the second-half and we had to withstand a bit of pressure. We got through it and hopefully we can continue to do that.
“It’s been a good day all around for the real blue and whites of Yorkshire! It’s a big three points in our season. Hopefully we can get some more against Leeds and Millwall in the games that are coming up.”
Although Powell was happy with his entire team, Powell picked out two of the key players in today’s defensive effort:
“I’ve got to pick out David Edgar and Joel Lynch.
“We knew David would sit and that would allow Conor and Jacob to push forwards alongside our strikers. He only joined us on Thursday, but I thought he did really well.
“When I spoke to him we discussed the positions he can play and we felt defensive midfield, especially away from home, was the most important. He gives us a platform and does a job for the team. I think that was music to his ears, because that is his preference.
“He made two immense blocks; one in particular against (Marc-Antoine) Fortune when he looked to turn and go one-on-one with Alex (Smithies) was excellent.
“He was cramping up after 60, but I looked at him and told him to carry on. To be fair to him, he did! He put in a great debut for us and the lads gave him a round of applause after the game.
“Joel (Lynch) can be a bit of a ‘Rolls Royce’ at times and we’ve just got to get him out there believing in himself, because he’s a big player for us.”
Powell finished off by praising James Vaughan, who surprisingly kept his place in the side despite the facial fracture he suffered at Middlesbrough last weekend – playing in a protective mask.
“I’m sure everyone was quite amazed he was out there – because I was. The specialist said he could play and to be fair to Vaughany, he really wanted to play. That was important; I trusted him.
“It’s quite amazing that it is now a natural healing process for him. We’ll make sure that he trains and heads the ball, but we all know how brace James is – maybe a bit too much at times! He makes things happen through his robustness and he’s willing to play for the team.”
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