Danny Schofield reviews West Brom defeat
- Danny Schofield on loss at West Brom
- Town’s First Team Assistant Coach says plenty of positives to take
- Schofield pleased with Jaheim Headley and Josh Austerfield
First Team Assistant Coach Danny Schofield praised the efforts of Huddersfield Town’s B Team following their 3-1 defeat to West Bromwich Albion at The Hawthorns on Friday.
The home side fielded a strong side, including a number of First Team players, which Town stood up to for much of the game.
A Danny Ward penalty was enough to see Town go into half time level, but the Baggies were the stronger side in the second half.
Schofield felt that the younger members of the side will have learned some great lessons through playing such an experienced opposition.
"I want us to take away all the positives from today's game.
"It was a good challenge and one that we can definitely learn from. Particularly for the younger players, it was a great development opportunity playing against a high calibre of opposition."
"We knew they'd be strong, but I felt the lads stood up to the challenges well.
"I was especially pleased with the way that we defended the box and our defensive structure. We had a plan to defend compact centrally and then press in wide areas which I think worked at times. I think we also created a lot of chances for ourselves too.
"We'll review the game and analyse it, but I think more than anything it's confidence. I want the players to be confident going into every single game."
Town’s Assistant Coach was pleased with the way the Young Terriers took on the challenge against West Brom.
"It's the same principles that we've shown in recent weeks, I think we just needed to be better in those individual moments today when you're playing against a high calibre of opposition.
"The first thing as a Coach and the environment that we try to create is to instil a belief in the younger players and to play with no fear.
"We want them to get onto the ball and to be confident with it and to execute the technical aspects that we work on every day."
One player that showed a level of confidence at The Hawthorns on Friday afternoon was Jaheim Headley.
"Jaheim's got a lot of potential. He's a player that we have high hopes for, he's working hard but we want to keep pushing him and developing him.
"We played pretty much with three centre backs today with Josh Austerfield dropping in to defend against their front two, so this then allowed Jaheim to come from a fullback into a wing back so then he almost becomes a winger to attack with.
"It's a challenging position as you've got to be both a defender and an attacker when we're playing in a wide area."
Austerfield was instrumental in Town's set up against a strike partnership, a system that was again implemented against West Brom.
"If we play against a team with two strikers, sometimes we like to defend with three centre backs, so Josh will drop in and be that extra centre back.
"Then in possession of the ball we like Josh to try and find the space and arrive higher up so behind the pressing two in midfield.
“We've worked on that with Josh and he's developed that himself all season and really grown into that role."
