Huddersfield Town launch their EFL Trophy campaign tonight when they travel to Doncaster Rovers for their first group stage fixture. It’s easy to ignore these games and focus on the more serious business of the league but I’ll talk later about why I think these cup games can be a good thing.
Before that, here’s who I think Martin Drury will pick for tonight’s fixture. I’m assuming he’ll use the match as a chance to keep our fringe senior players match fit and to blood a few youngsters who have potential to break into the real first team at some point in the future.
Goalkeeper: Alnwick
Some managers prefer to keep their first choice in the team for the cup games but the majority give their backup options a run out. It was Jak Alnwick on the bench on Saturday, so I presume he’s the second choice and therefore should get minutes in the cup. Both Alnwick and Tzanev looked very rusty when they stepped into the first team at the end of last season so giving at least one of them a run out to get a bit of sharpness makes sense to me. Alnwick has some pretty impressive career stats in terms of experience. He has over a hundred League One games under his belt, alongside 50+ games in both the Championship and the Scottish top flight. Having said that, I’ve been pretty underwhelmed with him when he’s played for Town even though he’s not had many opportunities.
Defenders: Sorensen, Low, Iorpenda, Mumba
I thought that Lasse Sorensen had a decent preseason and was in good form, so he’s been a bit unlucky to not be involved much to date. Bronkhorst’s arrival and his pre-existing relationship with Fernandes have made it hard for Sorensen to get much of a look in. And with league games limited to seven sub, more versatile options tend to get the nod ahead of him for places on the bench too. He’s probably better suited to being a wingback than a traditional rightback but I’d prefer we keep the shape the same as our league games, so we can build some consistency throughout the squad.
I’d consider Joe Low another player that’s probably feeling a bit aggrieved at his lack of minutes. Murray Wallace’s excellent form has meant he’s forced himself into the reckoning, Balker’s ability on the ball makes him an essential part of our back line and Bowat’s ability to switch between the left of a back three and the leftback in a back four helps keep the team flexible. This game should be a chance for Low to show Drury what he’s missing.
With Whatmough injured and the rest of our central defensive options needed for the weekend, I’d promote an academy lad to get some experience for our other central defender. You may think I’ve picked a player that we recently sold to Derby but I’m actually suggesting we play George Iorpenda, Tom’s little brother who is a classy, ball-playing central defender. Even better, he recently signed a long-term contract to keep him with us until summer 2029, so we’ve learned from the mistakes we made when we let his brother run his contract down and force through a move.
I’ve picked Bali Mumba as our leftback and Sway as the left winger but if both are picked they could play the other way around. Regardless, Mumba needs to impress after losing his place in the starting lineup due to his red card and now not being able to get his place back for league games. I’m not Mumba’s biggest fan, for starters, it seems weird to have a right-footed player who specialises as a leftback but I think “there’s a player in there”. The difficulty is: for every player where fans think “there’s a player in there” it’s pretty rare we see them fulfil that potential while at Huddersfield Town.
Midfield: Brierley, Collins, Vost
Ethan Brierley has potential to be this season’s Danny Grant. If you don’t remember him, Danny Grant was signed from Irish football and expected to be great but rarely played in the first team. Then his lack of opportunities meant many fans thought he was the solution to all our problems if only he was given a chance. Brierley sounded like we signed him for right now when he first arrived but more recent comments have hinted towards him being one for the future and he’s aside from an appearance on the bench last Saturday as an unused sub, he’s not been seen much. Like many of the players in my predicted lineup, this game could be an opportunity for him to show Martin Drury what he can offer.
Archie Collins may be doubting whether he’s going to be the main man in Town’s midfield after we brought in Cameron Humphreys on deadline day. I’m not sure how Ledson, Collins and Humphreys can play at the same time but I suppose it’s a nice kind of problem to have. With Collins still building up match sharpness, this game seems like a perfect, low-stakes chance to build up his fitness. I’ve heard he’s excellent at dictating the pace of the game and spraying balls around to start off attacks, so he sounds like an enjoyable player to watch.
I expected David Kasumu to start in this game but apparently he’s twanged a muscle and will be out for a few weeks. That’s not such a concern though, as it gives young Dan Vost a chance to shine. Vost has been involved in Town’s preseasons and EFL Trophy games for a while now and has typically been solid, neat and tidy but hasn’t really shown a range of qualities that would force his way into the first team set up. I think he’s at a stage in his development now where he needs to lay down a marker and show what he’s about. Being steady away will get you so far but I’d like to see him take a few more risks and really showcase his talents.
Forwards: Gooch, Fletcher, Sway
I felt certain I’d seen an announcement that Lynden Gooch has been loaned out to Wimbledon but I don’t think it progressed past the rumour stage. He’s not been particularly impressive lately but this time last year he was in great form and looked like a very shrewd acquisition. Injuries and a dip in form limited his opportunities and he seemed to lose a yard of pace by the end of the season. Now he’s third or fourth choice for a variety of positions. Given we have Bronkhorst and Sorensen as options at rightback, I’d like to see us experiment with Gooch as an out-and-out winger, a role he’s played plenty in his career and might be able to offer something for the team in that position.
Our main striker in this match could be either Fletcher or Radulovic, I’d expect Drury will pick whomever isn’t likely to start on Saturday. Based on current form, I suspect that it will be Fletcher playing in this game and Radulovic saved for our trip to Mansfield at the weekend. We saw Fletcher miss a couple of good opportunities to open his account for Town. His performances have been pretty good in spite of his lack of goals but I think scoring some goals for us will help him to settle a bit.
I thought Jay Sway was bordering on terrible in his cameo from the bench against Notts County at the weekend. He had one of those performances where everything seemed to go wrong for him and he looked like he’d lost his cool after being harshly treated by the referee (in fairness, fouls on him were ignored and he was punished for challenges that weren’t nearly as bad as the ones he received). One iffy game from the bench, in a finely balanced and very competitive game is nothing to worry about though and playing in this game will give him a chance to put last Saturday’s game behind him.
5 reasons to enjoy the EFL Trophy matches
I know some fans have no time for this competition and won’t be (Jay) swayed on the matter, but if you’re not sure whether this competition is worth your time, here’s my reasons why I don’t think it’s completely pointless…
- There’s a trip to Wembley on the line
Players at Huddersfield Town aren’t likely to get many opportunities to win silverware or visit Wembley Stadium but this competition provides a relatively easy route to both these things. From a fan’s point of view, I also would really like to see us taking this competition seriously and trying to win it so I can have a trip to Wembley. I’ve seen Town in every playoff final since 1995 and I don’t think I’ve enjoyed the game in any of those matches because too much was on the line. The EFL Trophy is the chance to watch my team at our national stadium and compete for an actual trophy without the same kind of stress involved. So for purely selfish reasons, I hope we take this cup seriously.
- It gives our fringe players a chance to keep fit and prove their worth
Many League One teams don’t have the budgets to have squad depth like Huddersfield Town do. But the problem with having a big squad of senior players is that you have to leave many of them out of the squad for league games. These EFL Trophy matches are a chance for those fringe players to keep themselves match fit and to force their way into the manager’s thinking if they can play well.
- Our academy players get a chance to step up to the first team
We’re lucky at the moment to have quite a few decent youngsters coming through the ranks. We don’t know what injury situations we might have to face later in the season but if we can give minutes in these games to the youngsters, they’ll be familiar with the first team setup if ever we need them. And even if we don’t need to call upon our youth later in the season, it’s good for their development to play under the floodlights even if the crowd will be a fraction of a typical league game.
- It’s a chance to practice new things
In Saturday’s game against Notts County we looked dangerous when we moved the ball forward quickly and could catch them unprepared but really struggled later in the game when they sat deep and stayed organised. This game could have a similar shape to it, with Town dominating possession and Doncaster Rovers trying to keep it tight and nick something on the break. We’ll come up against this problem time and time again over the course of a season, so a less important match like this one is an opportunity to experiment with new things and see what works. We could try chucking Joe Low up as a centre forward, play goalie-when, put three players on the halfway line when we defend corners, or any number of things. It’s much easier to try something a bit different when winning and losing aren’t quite so important as they are in the league.
- Some football is better than no football
This summer there was literally no gap between the World Cup ending and Town’s preseason starting but I still felt the lack of Huddersfield Town competitive matches between May and August. This game is, unquestionably, a competitive Huddersfield Town football match. I think it’s fine for fans to pick and choose which Town games they want to get up for or not but I will personally always be interested if Huddersfield Town are playing. That extends beyond competitive games and into friendlies too. So I’m happy we’re in this competition, even if others can make a pretty convincing argument that this cup is a complete waste of time.
Oops, I think Doncaster are in League 1. Or is it wishful thinking? 🤔
Thanks for that Glenn, I’ve updated the article. Not sure what I was thinking there.