“I’m hoping we extend his contract to fend off potential suitors” – Huddersfield Town player ratings for Watford victory

Huddersfield Town beat Watford 2-0 on Saturday to nudge themselves into the top half of the table just in time for Christmas. The result came after some good fortune with both of our goals but it’s hard to say it wasn’t deserved after such a lot of work went into keeping Watford at bay.

There still feels to be plenty of room for improvement with the team but there were signs of further progress in this game. We cut out costly defensive errors and forced a few out of the opposition.

Here are my ratings for each player.

Ryan Schofield – 8 out of 10

Made some excellent close range saves which he made look easy because of his good positioning. The young keeper was a key part of winning this game and looks like he may be ready for a longer run in the team. His distribution was mostly very good and it was good to see him choosing a safety-first approach rather than passing to marked men in his own box. Goalkeeper has gone from the position I was most concerned about to us having two keepers that are playing well and providing competition for each other.

Harry Toffolo – 7 out of 10

One of his more conservative games, where he mostly hung back and kept things tight at the back but still allowed himself the odd forage forward. It’s good to see that Toffolo is smart enough to switch between swashbuckling and traditional left back roles at will as it means we can adjust our tactics without needing to change the personnel.

Naby Sarr – 7 out of 10

A very solid performance from the big man with no silly mistakes. He tops the list for number of passes in nearly every game now which shows how much we’re using him to bring the ball out from defence. We also rely on his height to defend set pieces as we otherwise seriously lack stature compared to most Championship outfits.

Rarmani Edmonds-Green – 7 out of 10

There’s a saying that the Chinese word for crisis also means opportunity, and that’s how Schindler and Stearman’s injuries have worked out. Edmonds-Green has grasped the opportunity given to him and shown he’s ready to play at this level. He looks assured, level headed and reads the game well. This game was probably the most rigorous test of his defensive abilities and I think he stood up to them well.

Pipa – 6 out of 10

A decent performance but not spectacular. He struggled with his winger and mistimed a few tackles but his recovery pace helped to keep things tight at the back. I think Pipa is better suited to games where we dominate for long spells and need him to bomb forward but he didn’t do too badly up against a very talented opponent.

Jonathan Hogg – 8 out of 10

He looked thoroughly miserable for much of last season but now seems to have recaptured his love for the game. While smiles don’t come naturally to him, you can see he’s happier because of the way he’s flying into tackles and energetically directing his teammates around the pitch. He snapped away at Watford’s midfield and stopped them settling on the ball and did a great job of protecting the back four alongside a few nice passes here and there.

Lewis O’Brien – 8 out of 10

Like the Duracell bunny in the adverts from my childhood, he just kept on going and going. He seemed to be playing somewhere between central and the left side of midfield but his energetic running made him seem like he was everywhere. There were still a few unforced wayward passes which he’s making in every game but he had far more positive aspects to his game to counteract the wobbly moments. He drove the team forward and was a willing runner when we needed one. I think this was his best game since returning from injury but the fact an eight out of ten score is generous shows there’s still plenty of room for improvement.

Carel Eiting – 5 out of 10

Once again struggled to get into the game and didn’t make the most of promising opportunities that came his way. While he’s never had much pace, he looks painfully slow when running forward and even looks slow in thought when picking a pass. He’s got bags of ability and produces some lovely passes but fails to impose himself upon games. If I was coaching him I’d make him watch clips of Aaron Mooy’s 2016/17 season at Town so he can see an example of how a technical player can enforce their will on the game and be the player that attacks orbit around.

Juninho Bacuna – 7 out of 10

I can only remember one instance that he made me swear at my screen in frustration, which is remarkably low compared to recent outings. He seemed to play a variety of positions as the game went on but was mostly in the central areas of midfield. He was energetic and combative in all the right ways and the aggression he brought to the team was focused and controlled for once.

Isaac Mbenza – 9 out of 10

A superb performance from the Belgian, running relentlessly and forcing the error for our opening goal. He seems to be learning more and more about when to use his pace to burn past opponents and when to use skill instead. His confidence is sky high and he looks to be enjoying his football now. I’m now hoping we extend his contract soon to fend off potential suitors which would have seemed like crazy talk only a few months ago.

Fraizer Campbell – 8 out of 10

A tireless performance capped off with a tap-in which brings his season’s goal tally to four. The fact his goal was straight forward doesn’t really matter as it’s the kind of striker’s goal he’s accused of not scoring because he’s too busy buzzing around other areas of the pitch. I was harsh about Campbell after Wednesday’s game against Coventry, so it’s only fair I sing his praises after this game, where he was excellent throughout. He terrorised Watford’s back line and didn’t let them settle for a second.

Substitutes

Alex Pritchard – 6 out of 10

Did a better job than Eiting when he came on from the bench. Didn’t set the world on fire but had a few nice moments and covered plenty of ground.

Aaron Rowe – 6 out of 10

A tricky situation to come on from the bench but gave Mbenza a well-deserved rest and didn’t do too badly.

Adama Diakhaby – N/A

A time wasting substitution, which a cruel part of me thinks might be his best role!