Town’s Head Coach previews midweek encounter at St. Andrew’s
- Carlos Corberán on facing Birmingham City
- Head Coach looking to bounce back at St Andrew’s
- Watch Carlos’ full press conference below on #HTTV!
Head Coach Carlos Corberán is looking for his Huddersfield Town side to bounce back from the weekend’s defeat during Wednesday night’s trip to Birmingham City.
The Terriers produced a performance that had plenty of positives to take from it against Preston on Saturday but came away empty-handed after two North End goals in the space of nearly three second half minutes turned the game on its head shortly after the break.
With that loss snapping a four-game unbeaten streak for Town, Carlos says Town’s response will be important during Wednesday’s meeting with Birmingham City.
“For me, the mentality is going to be key. One of the challenges will be to see how we react after the defeat. We need to react and try to make our best in the pitch,” he said.
“In the previous game, I was watching a team that until we conceded two goals in the previous minutes, was able to react, command the game and take the ball to create chances.
“The team didn’t give up in any minute of the game and this is something we are going to need throughout the year.
“We need to continue playing with the same ideas, level of effort and commitment we have now because our target is to make everyone at Huddersfield proud of what we are doing in the pitch.”
The Terriers had to play the closing stages of that game a man down following dismissal of Naby Sarr for a last man challenge late on.
The Frenchman will subsequently miss the midweek game in the Midlands and speaking to the media in his virtual press conference on Tuesday afternoon, Carlos discussed the options Town will have to play at the back at St Andrew’s in Naby’s absence.
“We have two centre-backs now, Stearman and Schindler who played with him on Saturday and at the same time, we have Romoney who played in the cup game (against Rochdale) and after against Nottingham Forest, so we have three options to play as centre-backs.
“We are going to be ready to have versatility to adapt to the context and what we expect from Birmingham. We know if we defend well, we’ll have more chances to try and dominate the game.”
The meeting with Birmingham will see Carlos come up against a fellow Spaniard in the opposing dugout for the first time since taking charge of the Terriers, with Aitor Karanka currently at the helm as Head Coach at St. Andrew’s.
Town’s Head Coach has been impressed with the work his Spanish compatriot has done so far in his coaching career.
“I know that he was working with Mourinho in Real Madrid as his first experience and after that he started to coach himself.
“He had a very high success in Middlesbrough, promoting the team to the Premier League and then working in the Premier League before working with more teams here in the Championship.
“I think he’s someone very professional. When you play against his teams, you are playing a team with a very good level of organisation in defence and with intention to build in the attacks too.”
Karanka’s side have made a robust start to the campaign, picking up seven points from their opening seven matches, whilst proving to be a difficult side to break down. At the back, they’ve kept three clean sheets and not conceded more than one goal in any game so far this season.
Carlos says the Terriers are expecting a tough battle when they come up against the Blues on Wednesday.
“They are very dangerous in the set pieces, in the counter attacks and they are a very solid team in defence.
“They are a very strong squad with a lot of numbers. They are building a team and are in this process, but you can find a lot of players with experience in the Championship (in their squad).
“We need to be smart, clever and manage the ball when we have it. At the same time, we need to manage the set pieces, counter attacks and all options they have to attack well.
“It’s going to be a game that is going to demand high concentration in all details that one game can have.”
Watch Carlos’ full press conference below on #HTTV!
