Club

MATCH PREVIEW | HUDDERSFIELD TOWN (A)

The Hatters return to action this evening when they face Huddersfield Town in the Sky Bet Championship.

huddersfield-match-preview.jpg

The game from the John Smith’s Stadium is live on Sky Sports and could prove to be a crucial game for both sides who are battling to avoid relegation this season.

Town secured a point against Barnsley on Tuesday, as did tonight’s hosts, who earned a 0-0 draw away at Reading.

The Hatters are five points adrift of safety at the start of play, whilst Huddersfield who are 19th, are two points above the drop zone.

Season ticket 'Legends' will be able to watch a live stream of the match on iFollow Hatters, but due to its selection for live broadcast by Sky, no match passes will be available and overseas subscribers will also NOT be able to view the match. Audio commentary from Simon Pitts will be available as always.

Nathan Jones said:

(Please note these are quotes are taken from Nathan’s press conference on Thursday)

The importance of a positive result: “That’s what you have to look at but you can’t look at QPR, you have to look at Huddersfield so what we have to try and do is get to 44 points tomorrow night. If we can get to 44 points tomorrow night then there is plenty to play for because there is lots that could happen this season.

“You just have to keep giving yourself an opportunity and as I said, if you can take it to the last game and we’re right in the mix at the last game, then you never know, because there is hunger in the group and that is what we like about the group.”

On Huddersfield’s top-flight experience: “I think you would find that pretty much all those players have played in the Premier League. I think they signed one or two, like the left-back Toffolo, but I think pretty much everyone in Huddersfield’s squad was playing in the Premier League last year.

“That’s what you come up against in the Championship. It’s a wonderful league, I think it’s the toughest league top to bottom. Obviously the Premier League has world class players and you can get really hurt by top teams, but in terms of the competitiveness of 46 games, where anyone can win a game, where you have to be tactically prepared, physically prepared, every single game of the season – the Championship for me is probably in the toughest six leagues in Europe.

“For us to be competing in it and still competing in it is a big feat, and what we want to do is ensure we can stay in it so we can grow and learn.”

Who?

Huddersfield became the first English club to win three successive English league titles in 1925-26. The first two league titles were won under manager and pioneer Herbert Chapman, who also led the team to FA Cup glory in 1922.

More recently, they gained promotion into the Premier League in 2017 after beating Reading in the play-off final when Izzy Brown was on loan with the Terriers.

They spent two seasons in the top flight but finished bottom of the league last season and are now fighting to secure their status in the Championship at the end of this campaign.

When and where?

Kick-off is 6pm at The John Smith’s Stadium on Friday 10th July.

Man in the middle?

The referee for today’s game is Geoff Eltringham – who has taken charge of 25 games this term, showing 88 yellow cards and two reds.

Played before?

The two sides met very early on in the season back in August, a game which the Hatters won 2-1 courtesy of goals from James Collins and Andrew Shinnie (see highlights below).

Town will certainly be hopeful of achieving the same result tonight, knowing they could move to within two points of safety and to extend their superior head-to-head record over the Terriers, having registered 11 wins compared to Huddersfield’s nine.

Follow the action

Please remember that due to the match at the John Smith's Stadium being live on Sky Sports, it will only be available for video streaming on iFollow Hatters if you are a season ticket holder who has received a code to watch the remaining matches of the season in return for donating your due refund to the club.

As a season ticket ‘Legend’, you will just follow the same set-up routine that you have for recent matches and you will be able to watch the action on iFollow.

Unfortunately, as is always the case with matches selected for live broadcast domestically or internationally, overseas subscribers to iFollow Hatters will NOT be able to watch a live stream and match passes will NOT be available.

The match will be shown overseas if a local broadcaster owns the rights to EFL matches. Details of availability can be found on the EFL website.

Audio commentary from Simon Pitts will be available on iFollow Hatters as ever.

Related Content

  1. 01
  2. 02
  3. 03