Four players make their first Huddersfield Town starts!
- Huddersfield Town team named to face Preston North End
- Four players make their first starts for the club
- First senior appearance for Town for defender Loick Ayina
Head Coach Mark Fotheringham has handed first Huddersfield Town starts to four players in today’s Emirates FA Cup Third Round game against Preston North End; 12.30pm kick-off at Deepdale.
New loan signing Matthew Lowton goes straight into the side for his first Town appearance this afternoon after joining from Burnley this week.
He is joined by summer recruit Tyreece Simpson, who makes his first start for the club after his four recent substitute appearances.
The third and fourth full debutants come from our B Team group.
Goalkeeper Nicholas Bilokapic makes his first start for the club, with his previous Town appearance coming as a substitute in last season’s Third Round win at Burnley.
Loick Ayina is the fourth debutant; the 19-year-old French centre back has never played for our first team before, but has regularly been an unused substitute under Fotheringham in recent weeks.
Sorba Thomas and Etienne Camara also come into the team today.
Our other January recruit, Florian Kamberi, is among our nine substitutes this afternoon alongside recent loan returns Kian Harratt and Jacob Chapman.
Alongside Hogg, Lee Nicholls is also given a rest today, whilst Matty Pearson continued his return from a long-term foot problem by playing 45 minutes for the B Team on Friday.
Fotheringham is without Ollie Turton (ankle), Tino Anjorin (ankle), Danny Ward (hamstring), Pat Jones (hamstring) and Yuta Nakayama (Achilles).
Town’s team vs Preston North End
41. Nicholas Bilokapic
7. Sorba Thomas
16. Kaine Kesler-Hayden
18. David Kasumu
22. Jack Rudoni
24. Etienne Camara
27. Tyreece Simpson
32. Tom Lees (c)
38. Matthew Lowton
39. Michał Helik
47. Loick Ayina
Substitutes
Jacob Chapman; Jordan Rhodes, Will Boyle, Josh Ruffels, Duane Holmes, Ben Jackson, Brahima Diarra, Kian Harratt, Florian Kamberi
