TOWN MUST ‘PUNCH BACK’
Huddersfield urged to go on attack tonight to secure Championship safety
HUDDERSFIELD TOWN will look to build on their excellent defensive record at home to West Bromwich Albion this evening, but manager Danny Cowley has warned they must try to create problems themselves.
A win for the Terriers would effectively keep them in the Championship, so much poorer is the goal difference of Hull City and Luton Town, who meet tomorrow. The Baggies need to win too, with third-placed Brentford breathing down their necks.
Huddersfield have kept four clean sheets in their last five matches, but have only scored in two of their six post-lockdown games.
Keeping it tight in the early stages could see West Brom becoming increasingly open if desperation kicks in, and Cowley will not send his side out just to defend.
“West Brom are a top team with top players and against any top team you’ve got to have good defensive structure and good organisation against the ball but we also must make sure we punch back ourselves,” argued Cowley.
“We think we’ve found some areas we can exploit. We’re under no illusions how tough it will be.
“If we can put on some really good defensive play and be organised against the ball, we believe that will create some attacking moments for us.
“Our principle organisation is always about that compactness, being together, but you can do that in a high press, a mid-press, a low block. The most important thing is that the distances are good so you don’t get open and create a basketball match.
“If you create open space
against the ball, good players will exploit that.
“We’ll make a decision as to where we think we should play to get the best possible chance of winning.
“We also know they’re better
with the ball than against it so we’ve got to make sure we get enough of the ball to affect the areas they’re a little vulnerable in.”
Huddersfield’s penultimate game of the season is one Cowley says his big players should be looking forward to.
“It’s a great game to be involved in and it’s certainly one we’re looking forward to,” he commented.
“For West Brom it’s an important game. It’s a game that obviously they have to win with Brentford coming up fast behind them on a remarkable run.
“They probably felt they had done enough to get promoted prior to lockdown, they were in a very strong position but since lockdown Brentford have been on an incredible run.
“They’re a good football team but they need to play with a real creativity and rhythm.
“While they’re finding that and they have to open up and come at us, that will create opportunities for us.
“The big games, it’s the ideal opportunity for the big players to find their best performance when the team needs them most.”
The lack of goals has been a concern for the Terriers but Cowley is dwelling on the positives.
“We created chances against Sheffield Wednesday (on Tuesday), we just lacked the final action but we have huge belief in our attacking players,” he said.
“Defensively as a collective we’ve done very, very well. That’s an 11-man job.
“We’ve been pleased with some of our approach play but sometimes our build has been a little bit slower and we would like to try to move the ball quicker, cut the number of touches down and have a bit more speed in our passes to encourage our attacking line to keep more positional discipline to hopefully create the penetration we need to.”
Last six games: Huddersfield Town DLDDWL; West Bromwich Albion DDWWWL. Referee: J Brooks (Leicestershire)
Last time: Huddersfield Town 1 West Bromwich Albion 0.