Huddersfield Town returned to Sky Bet Championship action following the November international break with a 1-1 draw against Birmingham City.
Fraizer Campbell had put Town ahead 10 minutes into the second-half but a late Marc Roberts equaliser ensured that the points were shared at the John Smith’s Stadium.
Alex Pritchard made his first start under the Cowleys as one of four changes to the starting XI that lost at Preston a fortnight ago.
Jon Gorenc Stanković, Jonathan Hogg and Fraizer Campbell also came into the side alongside Pritch, who was making his 200th career appearance in all competitions.
The visitors switched the sides around at kick-off, so Town were attacking the Fantastic Media Stand in the first-half. It didn’t disrupt the Terriers rhythm early on however, as they worked the first real opportunity of the game when Elias Kachunga fired over after intercepting a loose Birmingham pass.
Both sides continued to battle in the opening exchanges of the first-half before the Blues created their first real chance of the game, as Jude Bellingham manoeuvred his way into the box before firing a strike over whilst off balance.
That opportunity seemed to be the spark the game needed, as Town immediately drove down the other end to create the game’s closest chance yet. Karlan Grant’s fizzed ball across the box found the run of Alex Pritchard who saw his goal-bound effort blocked on the slide.
Town nearly went one better on 36 minutes however, as Juninho Bacuna’s teasing cross found the unmarked Elias Kachunga in the box who produced a stunning save from Birmingham ‘keeper Connall Trueman at point blank range, before Marc Roberts blocked Fraizer Campbell’s rebound.
Bacca was one of five of Town’s First Team players that went away with their national sides over the break, having featured for Curaçao, but he continued to looked fresh at both ends of the pitch.
Moments after his cross nearly broke the deadlock, a vital header at the back post kept the score at 0-0 on the stroke of half-time.
The clearance allowed Town to break on the counter and force a foul, but despite Alex Pritchard’s low-driven free-kick stinging the hands of the Birmingham ‘keeper, the two sides went into the break level at the John Smith’s Stadium.
Town continued to press for the opener straight after the half time and had their reward 10 minutes after the interval. An inch-perfect ball from Trevoh Chalobah found the run of Fraizer Campbell, with the striker maintaining his composure on the run to slot the ball past the ‘keeper and give Town the lead.
The Terriers continued to assert their dominance on the encounter and nearly had a second soon after. Elias Kachunga found himself unmarked inside the box once again but couldn’t divert Alex Pritchard’s cross from the left past the goalkeeper.
For all of Town’s efforts, the Blues drew level on 78 minutes. A well-worked free-kick was nodded in by Marc Roberts amongst a melee of players inside the box.
Danny Cowley’s side pushed forward in search of a winner in the final 10 minutes but couldn’t create any clear-cut chances to win the game, with the visitors holding firm to ensure that they would take a point from their trip to West Yorkshire.
Next up for Town is the second of two Sky Bet Championship home games in the space of four days with Swansea City the visitors to the John Smith’s Stadium on Tuesday 26 November 2019; 7.45pm kick-off.
HUDDERSFIELD TOWN (4-2-3-1)
Kamil Grabara; Lewis O’Brien, Jon Gorenc Stanković, Christopher Schindler (c), Juninho Bacuna; Jonathan Hogg, Trevoh Chalobah; Karlan Grant, Alex Pritchard (Terence Kongolo, 77’), Elias Kachunga; Fraizer Campbell (Adama Diakhaby, 67’)
Unused subs
Joel Coleman, Josh Koroma, Steve Mounié, Florent Hadergjonaj, Matty Daly
BIRMINGHAM CITY (4-2-3-1)
Connall Trueman; Kristian Pedersen, Jake Clarke-Salter, Marc Roberts, Maxime Colin; Jude Bellingham (Josh McEachran, 79’), Ivan Šunjić; Jacques Maghoma (Jefferson Montero, 63’), Dan Crowley, Jérémie Bela (Álvaro Giménez, 64’); Lukas Jutkiewicz
Unused subs
Lee Camp, Wes Harding, Fran Villalba, David Davis
REFEREE
Keith Stroud
GATE
22,573
