“He may not play many more games for Town” – Player ratings for Town’s 1-0 cup win over Barnsley

Huddersfield Town qualified for the next round of the FA Cup by beating Barnsley 1-0 yesterday. It wasn’t vintage Town but they just about deserved the win and could actually have been more comfortable winners if they had been less wasteful in front of goal. 

It was a mixed bag in terms of individual performances, with some players really catching the eye and several not looking up to speed. Getting into the hat for the next round was the main objective and Town managed that, so there’s no use complaining too much. 

Here are my player ratings for the game.

Jamal Blackman – 6 out of 10

Barnsley failed to register a single shot on target in the game, so there wasn’t much opportunity for Blackman to show off his shot stopping credentials. He looked good otherwise, with some decent distribution at times, picking out players on the wings and playing it into them. There were a few occasions where he seemed to keep hold of the ball a fraction of a second too long but he wasn’t punished for it.

Pipa – 5 out of 10

Worrying that he was withdrawn early on due to injury, hopefully it was a precaution rather than anything more serious. He got forward but often misplaced his passes or couldn’t get past his man with his runs. I’m assuming he wasn’t fully fit and that impacted his performance.

Matty Pearson – 6 out of 10 

Defended well and didn’t try to do too much with the ball. A good choice for captain in the absence of Hogg, O’Brien and Toffolo but he’s always a leader on the pitch regardless of whether he’s got a bit of stretchy cloth on his arm.

Naby Sarr – 3 out of 10

Blind luck prevented him scoring a spectacular own goal, as the ball he wafted at clanged against the post and thankfully came back out rather than glancing in. His passing was dreadful and he looked like a headless chicken at times. I’m possibly being a bit harsh but didn’t look up to the task in this game and he may not play many more games for Town.

Josh Ruffels – 6 out of 10

Absolutely fine. Did everything I’d have expected him to do but didn’t do a lot to impress either. Looks solid, supports the attackers when he ventures forward but not a particularly noteworthy display.

Sorba Thomas – 5 out of 10

Even when Sorba is having a bad game we still massively overuse him and constantly ping diagonal balls to his wing. I’m not sure exactly why but this seems to be our Plan A now. Give it to Thomas and hope he creates something has been a strategy that’s consistently paid off for us this season but the other forward players need to take some of the creative responsibility off his shoulders. Despite his touch being a bit dodgy at times he still could have scored a few and was instrumental in the build up to Holmes’ goal.

Jon Russell – 8 out of 10

My pick for Man of the Match, a superb display considering it was only his second start. He screened the defence well, snuffing out attacks and using his physical presence to shrug off Barnsley players when they got too close. His range of passing was excellent too. There was an occasional loose pass but the majority of his passing was progressive and pushed Town up the field. I’m staggered that he’s been given so few opportunities based on this performance when Scott High was relatively underwhelming when covering for Hogg. Surely he’s now much closer to getting minutes in the league and could eventually replace Hogg in defensive midfield in the long term.

Carel Eiting – 5 out of 10

While Russell seemed to be everywhere, Eiting was often away from the action and the game passed him by at times. He’s still getting back up to speed and we know there’s more to come from him but this was one of his quieter games. He had plenty of these in his first spell at Town too. It’s easy to remember his best games but he took a while to get used to the pace of the Championship and we may see a similar (but hopefully shorter) adjustment period for him.

Duane Holmes – 8 out of 10

Took his goal well and looked bright whenever he was on the ball. Like his pal Danny Ward, he took a while to get going in his second spell at Town but we’re now seeing the player we hoped we’d get when he signed last January. He’s scored in our last two games now, it will be interesting if he can turn this into a scoring run over the next few games.

Josh Koroma – 6 out of 10

Got involved and looked to take on his man but the end product was too often poor, not testing the keeper enough with his shots and failing to beat his man when running with the ball. His header to set up the ball was well taken though, so he deserves credit for that.

Jordan Rhodes – 6 out of 10

Nearly scored a lovely goal early on, where superb movement to the front post saw him get on the end of a low cross and his angled shot went just wide. That ability to steal half a yard on his marker was how he scored so many of his goals in the Lee Clark era. I still maintain he can’t work as a lone striker and too often he was isolated in this game. Despite running willingly, he didn’t look that effective when he was dropping deep and linking up. We may see the best of him if we can find a way to get him and Ward playing alongside each other, though playing two proper strikers together is about as fashionable as socks and sandals these days.

Substitutes

Ollie Turton – 7 out of 10

I’ve been quite critical of Turton in the past but he’s looking really good lately. The most defensively solid of our options at right back and able to deliver a decent ball into the box. Based on current form I’d pick him over Pipa, which I would never have predicted earlier in the season.

O’Brien – 6 out of 10

Added a bit of stability and quality on the ball to midfield when we needed to see the game out.

Sinani – 5 out of 10

I’m struggling to remember him doing anything bad or good despite him being on the pitch for 30 minutes. 

Ward – N/A

Didn’t play long enough to give him a rating but he did manage to strike the post with an instinctive shot. He looks so sharp and confident at the moment he’s very hard to play against.  

Lees – N/A

Brought on to add some defensive solidity in the closing stages of the match.