Chris preview’s Saturday’s Sky Bet Championship fixture
Club News
POWELL EXPECTS OPEN GAME vs WATFORD
8 January 2015
Huddersfield Town Manager Chris Powell is expecting an open game when Watford visits the John Smith’s Stadium in the Sky Bet Championship on Saturday.
The Terriers come into the game having claimed four points from the last two league games, but on the back of last weekend’s disappointing one goal FA Cup reversal against Reading.
“There were no positives to take from last weekend,” Chris told htafc.com. “I felt sorry for our fans because we just didn’t perform. We’ve done our best to move on from a particularly below average day at the office, because it’s now time to focus on Watford.
“It will be an open game on Saturday and I think, from what I’ve seen, we’re better in those. We like to play our stuff and we’ve been good at it, in the main, at home. Our last League result was a pulsating, terrific open game against Bolton and I thought we deserved the three points. That’s how we have to play.
“I watched Watford at Chelsea on Sunday and they’re very assured. They have some good players all over the park, like Troy Deeney. He’s got great physical attributes, so we can’t drop off too much and give him time – along with the likes of Vydra and Forestieri. We’ve got to stay strong and resolute and defend well, individually and as a unit.
“They’ll come here to attack and we’ll have to be ready for that, but equally I think we can attack them. We’ll be fully prepared to play our part in what is hopefully another home win against a good side.”
Ahead of the game Powell spoke of Jonathan Hogg’s unavailability due to suspension and gave updates on Town’s injured players:
“Sadly we’re missing Jonathan Hogg. He’s a huge miss, which I’m not afraid to say. I feel he’s shown people – myself included – what sort of player he is. He’s very influential with and without the ball and I really like his intensity. I think he’s very underrated and effective. He dovetails very well in the middle with Conor Coady and Jacob Butterfield.
“We’ll have to tweak things now and be slightly different in our approach. We’ll need the players we have out there in midfield to be disciplined, because normally Jonathan defends both boxes.
“I’m not too sure if Saturday will come too early for Murray (Wallace) too. To be fair we knew there was a possibility he would have to come off last weekend due to his hamstring, but he’s been involved in some good wins after patiently waiting for his chance. It’s a shame that happened, because he’s been doing very well. He’s part of the young core I mentioned earlier.
“Jake Carroll has returned from Scotland with a knock and Joe Murphy is only in light training, so he is a number of weeks off yet.
“On the upside, Joel Lynch is training very well; he looks strong. Hopefully he will be alright and up for selection on Saturday.”
With the January transfer window now open, Powell also gave supporters an update:
“The January window is quite non-stop; you get inundated with calls from agents and we’re making loads of calls as well. We’re pursuing a lot of leads, but I have no imminent news.
“We’re a bit light in the striking area and that is an area we will look at and address as best we can, but we’ll also look at other areas if we can. We need to keep a competitive edge around as players need to be pushed.
“I would certainly like to bring players in, but it’s going to be hard. We’re not going to spend loads of money, so to balance that there will be two or three players that have to move on, like Jon Stead. If they’re not playing regularly and they want to get football elsewhere, I’ll do that.
“I’ve had long enough to look at everyone here and I’ve spoken to virtually every player on how I see their future here at Huddersfield Town. They are sometimes difficult conversations, but that’s part of my job as Manager.
“We have a fantastic core group of young players here; the likes of Tommy Smith and Jonathan Hogg are only playing their 50th games for the Club. That bodes well and we’ll look to build on that as much as we can. All the foundations are here.”
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