Huddersfield Town take on Mansfield Town this afternoon and will be hoping to continue their unbeaten start to the season. Mansfield have won two and lost three of their opening five league games this season, among those results, a 5-2 win over Luton showed they’re a threat but their 5-0 defeat against Reading suggests they’ve also got significant weaknesses.
Martin Drury may have had his selection choices complicated for this game by some decent performances by backup players in the midweek game against Doncaster Rovers in the EFL Trophy. As well as a preview of today’s game, I’ll also look back in the 3-1 win over Doncaster.
Before that, here’s my predicted XI for today’s match…
Predicted Huddersfield Town team to play Mansfield
Goalkeeper: Young
Defence: Bronkhorst, Balker, Wallace, Bowat
Midfield: Fernandes, Ledson, Humphreys, Harness
Attack: Fletcher, Taylor
It’s pretty boring to predict we’ll play the same team as started against Notts County last weekend but I think Drury is trying to build some consistency in his selections. There’s some sense in this approach, as players can build relationships more if they’re playing with the same people week in, week out.
There are a few positions where there’s some competition for places. For example, Joe Low played well and scored on Tuesday night in the trophy and might hope to get the nod in defence. However, I think Drury likes the balance of attributes his current defence provides and it would feel unfair to drop any of the players Low might replace.
There’s also potential for a change on the left, with Bali Mumba available again he could replace Harness on the left wing. Mumba can play as a more conventional winger of the two as Harness tends to drift infield and doesn’t have the pace to get behind the opposition defence. However, Harness is too useful a player to drop and I think he’ll keep his spot, particularly as Mumba continues to be hit and miss with his form.
The final position I suspect could change would be the strike partner for Joe Taylor. Radulovic has a couple of goals to his name and has been pretty good when he’s featured. Ashley Fletcher hasn’t got his first goal for Town yet but has been a very effective focal point for our attacks at times. I don’t really mind which of the two starts but I think Fletcher is a bit better at the dirty work that helps us play the game further up the pitch.
Mansfield player to watch: Michael Smith
After playing 30+ games in the Championship for each of the last three seasons, I’m a bit surprised Mansfield Town have been able to sign Michael Smith on a free transfer this summer. The big front man hasn’t been exactly prolific in recent seasons but the last season he had in League One, four years ago, he scored 21 goals for Sheffield Wednesday. The season before that he scored 25 goals for Rotherham, so dropping back down to this level may mean he gets back to his goal-scoring best.
Smith is the kind of big awkward player that can dominate defenders physically and free up space for others. He’s got the knack for clever flicks into space and can dominate in the air.
My hope would be that’s it’s more Wallace than Balker than deals with Smith’s threat in this game. Balker looks like he’s capable of handling himself with the physical side of the game but in reality he too often struggles when up against a bully-boy type of striker. Wallace has the experience and mentality to make sure that he either wins his battles or at least gets in the way enough to impede his opponent.
TerrierSpirit.com prediction – Mansfield Town 1-0 Huddersfield Town
Town’s opening day win over Wimbledon was the last time they kept a clean sheet, and I suspect we’ll not break that streak in this game. As good as Town have been at times this season, most games have featured a few moments of dodgy defending. With time this should improve as it’s still a relatively new group of players and they’re adjusting to a relatively new way of playing.
On the plus side, Town are also frequently having ten to twenty minute spells in games where they become almost unplayable. DSF and Taylor can have quiet spells but when they burst into life it can be explosive to watch. With Fletcher and Radulovic both being capable figureheads for our attacks we also have the physical presence we’ve lacked up front for so long.
With Town now genuinely looking to attack games and to push opposition teams, I think we’ll be able to get a handful of goals in this game and a 3-1 scoreline is Mr prediction.
Thoughts on Huddersfield Town’s 3-1 win at Doncaster in the EFL Trophy
I haven’t had chance to do a more in-depth writeup of Tuesday night’s game but I thought I’d throw in some of my impressions of the game here:
- Doncaster Rovers played better than Town for long periods. Not too much of a worry given it was our second string but even when we weren’t particularly good we at least hung in and only allowed them to score once.
- When we did get into a rhythm, which seemed to coincide with Fletcher replacing Radulovic, we looked very good. Scoring on the 67th, 74th and 77th minutes turned the game completely on its head.
- Marlie Neal looked like he has a lot of potential. The young centre back made his senior debut alongside Joe Low and seemed composed and confident. Definitely one for the future.
- Jamie Spencer also made a big impression from the bench when he scored with literally his first touch. Goals might not come quite so easily for him again but he looked like a threat and was brimming with youthful confidence. With our lack of suitable left wing options, he may be worth considering for the bench in league games even though he’s only 17.
- Despite changing a lot of the starting lineup, I felt like Martin Drury took the game seriously and the players seemed fully up for it. The number of changes meant the team lacked fluency but the commitment and desire didn’t seem to be in doubt. While I appreciate this competition is probably a nuisance for clubs wanting to do well in the league, I’d like to see us go deep in this competition and maybe even get a trip to Wembley if we play our cards right.