Huddersfield Town open up their League One campaign on Saturday afternoon, when they take on AFC Wimbledon at the Accu Stadium. After blowing a 1-0 lead in injury time against Preston North End last week, Town will be hoping to put their Carabao Cup exit behind them with a positive result against AFC Wimbledon. In all honesty, few people would have been that bothered about losing in the league cup apart from the fact it was another game where we conceded a late goal from a winning position.
Wimbledon aren’t a hugely fancied team in League One but they are a physical side that will fight hard, so Town will have to win their battles in order to earn the right to play football. Martin Drury’s job will be to select a team that’s able to deliver that combination of work ethic and razzle dazzle. Here’s how I think we’ll line up…
Goalkeeper: Matty Young
Young looked fine in last weekend’s game, which is a relief, as I’m very concerned about the quality of our backup keepers. Alnwick and Tzanev may both be decent keepers but my initial impression of them has been poor and it’s hard to shake that off. If Young stays fit and is even half as good as people have hinted then we’ll be fine but if form or fitness become a problem we may have issues in this area of the pitch.
Defenders: Balker, Whatmough, Bowat
Radinio Balker was my pick for our Man of the Match against Preston last weekend, so I see no reason why he won’t continue on the right of the back three. His balls forward to Fletcher were excellent and it looks like Martin Drury has encouraged Balker to express himself when he gets on the ball.
Jack Whatmough is fully fit, with a full preseason under his belt, so he’s the equivalent of a new signing, as the saying goes. In my mind, I see him as a bit of a meat and potatoes type of central defender, who heads and kicks everything but doesn’t do much else. Last weekend he showed a more cultured side to his game with some lovely diagonal balls out to the wings, so my initial impression doesn’t give him full credit.
Sean Roughan has picked up a minor knock and is not in contention for this game, opening up a spot for another defender. Ibane Bowat is a naturally left-sided defender that fits perfectly into the left of the back three. Given Wimbledon’s likely physical approach, there’s an argument for either Low or Wallace to come in but I think we also need some mobility in this area of the pitch so Bowat is my choice. He’s allegedly a cultured sort of defender, having come through some top academies in his youth, but it’ll be nice to get a look at him properly rather than rely on second-hand reports.
Midfield: Bronkhorst, Brierley, Ledson, Mumba
Ilias Bronkhorst has been declared fit for this match, so I’m expecting him to get the nod ahead of Sorensen in the right wingback role. He looks very steady defensively and already has a good understanding with Fernandes from their time at Excelsior. He’s also in possession of a decent long throw, which is very helpful if we’re able to win throw-ins in attacking areas.
David Kasumu was singled out of criticism last weekend for his role in the midfield struggling to control the flow of the game. In a way, our struggles last weekend in midfield probably helped encourage Town to get their chequebook out for Archie Collins, so it may work out for the best in the long run. Collins isn’t match fit yet, so we’ll not see him in this game but we do obviously need someone with a bit more quality in this area of the pitch. With Herbie Kane still out injured and Marcus McGuane rupturing his ACL this week, Ethan Brierley is the obvious option to select.
With Collins and Brierley arriving this summer, there’s a lot of competition for starting places in the base of our midfield. With Ryan Ledson being captain, he’s expected to start most weeks but he’ll also have to keep the level of his performances up in order to continue being our first choice. Hopefully we’ll give him a bit of licence to get forward in this game, as he improved last season when he started pushing further up field, scoring some superb strikes along the way.
Lynden Gooch was hooked at half time last weekend, which is typically a sign you’ve had a stinker. Following another poor showing in our final friendly against Blackburn. We still don’t know how quickly Martin Drury will drop an underperforming player but my expectation is that Mumba will get the nod over Gooch. It would be nice to have a left-footed option for this role but with Roughan injured, there’s only Jay Sway who could play in this area and I think he’s right-footed too (internet sources are mixed about his preferred foot and I haven’t ever particularly paid attention to his dominant foot). Regardless, I think Sway is probably still one for the future rather than a player we can rely on to start for us every week.
Attackers: Harness, Fletcher, Fernandes
I don’t love Marcus Harness playing as a tucked in left winger but it’s the area of the pitch where we need someone and he’s capable of doing a job out there. His natural tendency to drift inside and his lack of pace don’t make him perfect but he’s good at receiving the ball in tight spaces and links things up nicely, so he’s still useful even if he’s not the pacey, tricky winger I’d like to see on that side.
Ashley Fletcher looks like the kind of striker we’ve been crying out for over the last few seasons, he’s mobile, built like a tank, plays in those around him and has an eye for goal himself. Having a player like this makes previously hopeless-looking long balls down field suddenly turn into opportunities. The hope has to be that our quality of play will mean we can also get crosses and through balls served to him too but at least we don’t have that problem of watching long balls sail over the head of a tiny striker when he’s on the pitch.
DSF, as I’ll call him while I’m learning how to spell his first name, looks like a bag of tricks and could be vital if Wimbledon come with the dreaded low-block in this game. I always find it funny that teams are criticised for playing defensively when they come to play at our stadium, like it’s not fair that they won’t just roll over and let us play however we want. But if Wimbledon should have the nerve to try and defend deep against us, a player like Fernandes could be very useful in terms of finding a way to break down a resolute defence.