Terriers linked to flying Tractor Boy
HUDDERSFIELD Town’s fixtures for the new season offer plenty of talking points for Terriers fans as they pore their way through the match list and start circling dates in their diaries.
It felt inevitable Carlos Corberan’s men would have a bigger-name side on TV for the opening weekend given they reached the play-off final last season and were one of Sky Sports’ favourite sides to show towards the end of the last campaign as they pushed for promotion.
And a Friday night curtainraiser against Burnley has confirmed that.
Town also face Norwich (away) and West Brom (at home) in the opening weeks of the season, but it is generally a well-balanced start for Carlos Corberan’s side with a good mix of sides from up and down last season’s Championship – though they do not face a newly-promoted side until Wigan come to town on September 13.
Town’s toughest spell looks to be from the end of February to the end of April, with a sequence of games against Burnley, Coventry,
HUDDERSFIELD Town are weighing up a move for young Ipswich Town striker Tyreece Simpson after his successful League Two loan spell with Swindon Town last season, according to reports.
The 6ft1in 20-year-old scored nine goals in 25 appearances last season, helping the club to a play-off place before they were defeated by Port Vale in the semi-finals.
Simpson has just one year left on his deal at Ipswich after they took up the option to trigger a one-year extension, with claims he has turned down the offer of a longerterm deal. He is said to be worth around £250,000.
The left-footed centreforward
West Brom, Norwich, Millwall, Middlesbrough, Watford and Blackburn, followed by two away trips to south Wales to face Swansea and Cardiff either side of a midweek trip to Sunderland and a weekend home game against Sheffield United.
However, there are plenty of bridges to cross before we reach that stage of the season, and while it looks like a gruelling run on paper based on last season’s league table, there are no guarantees it will seem quite so arduous by the time the second half of the season rolls around.
Town also have a tough pair of games immediately after returning from the World Cup break, with Watford and Sheffield United both on the agenda.
But geographically, at least, the Christmas-New Year run is relatively kind with a Boxing Day trip to Preston followed by two home games, against Rotherham and Luton.
It’s a real cliche to say it, but ultimately everyone needs to play each other twice over the season and there will be plenty of twists and turns along the way.
The main thing is, the season now feels like it’s almost here! proved an adept dribbler last season and boasted an 18 per cent shot conversion rate – slightly better than either Danny Ward (16.8pc) and Jordan Rhodes (16pc) managed in the Championship for Town last campaign. He also claimed three assists for Swindon.
Simpson fits the kind of profile the Terriers would typically look to recruit for a spell in the B team with hopes of graduating them into the first team, as they have been successful in doing with Jon Russell and Sorba Thomas over the past 18 months.
Ward and Rhodes look set to continue competing for the first-choice centre-forward berth in the new season.