Town’s Head Coach speaks to the media ahead of our next Sky Bet Championship game
- Huddersfield Town vs Hull City
- Mark Fotheringham discusses next Sky Bet Championship game
- Head Coach is happy players are competing for their place in the squad
Mark Fotheringham says he is expecting a “tough game” against Hull City when he spoke to the press on Friday morning.
Speaking to the media in his press conference, Mark spoke about team news ahead of our Sky Bet Championship game against Hull City on Sunday.
“Obviously David Kasumu is going to miss this game unfortunately and he has been massive for us recently. Luckily, we have good quality players that can come in and replace him.
“That’s the great thing about this league, there’s such a high volume of games that it means there is opportunity for other members of the squad to come in and keep the shape.
“Hoggy is still getting assessed on his calf, so we’re just kind of playing it day by day with the medical staff - I’m looking forward to getting Hoggy back on the pitch.
“I’m hoping he will be back soon, but you have to be careful with calf injuries and anything muscular like that – from what I’ve seen in training, I’m really enjoying working with him.
“Nakayama has trained really well, and he has shown a good endeavour and spirit in training.
“I think he has got to keep working hard because we’ve got a lot of options across the defensive side, so I’m just going to keep learning about the players as we go.”
Our Head Coach discussed the depth of the squad and how impressed he is to see the young players competing for their place within the team as well as the experienced members.
“You could see on Tuesday that Will Boyle was in the squad, he has been terrific in training, same with Josh Ruffels and Kaine Kesler-Hayden – they had all earned their right to be in the team.
“It’s good to see that they’re all fighting for their places every day in their training to show me that they want to be in the squad.
“It’s a good headache to have, and as I have touched on before it’s all credit to the Academy staff.
“Who would have thought that Ben Jackson would have scored a goal like that, I definitely think he is capable of doing it and that’s why I started him because he is showing me in training that he’s ready.
“Etienne plays with a real desire and he’s going to get physically stronger and more robust for this league because we know how physical it can be.
“He’s a bright kid, to come to England and adapt as quickly as he has and also learn a new language is a real complement for him and his family - he is a credit to his family and a fantastic young man.”
Fotheringham touched on Tuesday night’s game and the positives he can take from the game moving forwards.
“What impressed me the most was the way that we were so flexible to play the different systems.
“People are looking at us and they’re not sure what we are going to do and that’s exactly what I want, I want to bring clarity to our game but make it really difficult for the opposition to prepare for us.”
Mark spoke about the importance of building relationships and making connections with people.
“To me that is the most important thing in football, not the playing of football but building the relationships with the people because that’s what stands you in good stead in life when people recognise that you’re a good authentic person.
“My aim is to show everybody here that I’m going to work really hard for this Club to make the fans proud of the team and I’m going to give it everything I’ve got.”
Fotheringham looked forward to Sunday’s game and discussed what he is expecting from Hull City.
“They’re a good club and we will respect them; they’ve got dangerous players.
“There’s going to be an element of surprise around them as well because if they get a new manager in before the weekend, then they could change everything.
“We just have to focus on ourselves – which is what I do anyway, focus on what our strengths are but make sure we respect our opposition.”
Watch the full press conference via HTTV below.
