Danny Schofield reviews Derby County match
- Town’s B Team Coach on Derby County defeat
- Danny explains benefits of playing difficult games
- B Team play Newcastle United on Friday afternoon
Huddersfield Town’s B team manager Danny Schofield believes there were positives to take from his side’s defeat against a strong Derby County outfit at Canalside.
The Young Terriers line-up featured a number of players from various different age groups and came up against a Rams side containing some senior experience.
Town created a number of opportunities, particularly in the first half, that on another day could have altered the complexion of the match and Schofield was pleased with some aspects of what he saw.
“I thought it was tough test for the lads. We knew it was going to be tough, Derby are a category one team flying high in the Premier League Two,” he said.
“They had a few strong players in their line-up, so it was certainly a challenge, but I think there were a lot of positives to come out of it from our point of view.”
Following its formation in the summer, Town’s B team have come up against a number of different challenges so far this season; ranging from Non-League opposition, to Academies at the top level of English football.
Schofield thinks that this will be helpful in the long-term to the youngsters’ development.
“We like to expose our players to tough challenges and a variety of games, today was certainly evidence of that.
“It’s very important from a learning and development point of view that players get exposed to this calibre of opposition.”
Following his injury lay-off, Luke Daley began the afternoon in an unfamiliar role at centre-back and Town’s B team boss claimed that is important for a young players’ progression to be exposed to different positions, whilst also picking out Aaron Rowe’s transition to right-back from the wing as another positive example of how Town are looking to increase the versatility in the squad.
“I thought he [Luke Daley] did really well. I think with the international break we had a lot of players who normally feature in these B team fixtures that didn’t play so the young players got an opportunity to play. It’s not Luke’s position, I know that, but he did really well.
“I think it is important that players are exposed to different positions, particularly with the Head Coach who has come in, he likes players to be adaptable and to be able to play in different positions and Aaron is one of those. We feel he can play as a right-winger and a full-back.
“We also like the positional midfielder, the number six, to be able to play as a centre-back so it is important that players do get exposed and challenged in different positions when they are at a young age and the starting point of their career.”
Town’s B team are back in action once again on Friday as they host Newcastle United and Schofield expects it to be another tough test for his team.
“I think Newcastle will be another challenge for us. It will be a very competitive game. The team will be different because those who have had rest days today will be competing on Friday. Every game we expose the players to, we want it to be a challenge and Newcastle will be that.”
