Predicted Huddersfield Town XI to take on Middlesbrough in the Carabao Cup

On Saturday, I achieved the rare feat of predicting the full starting eleven for Town correctly. While I’d love to say this was down to my powers of prediction improving, after years of wayward forecasts, it speaks more to the limited options available to Neil Warnock. Tonight’s game against Middlesbrough in the Carabao Cup, however, gives him an opportunity to see if any of his backup options might be worth giving a go in the league.

I’m not going to debate the rights and wrongs of fielding a weaker team in the cups, as we’ve already had confirmation that this is the plan, instead I’m going to try my best to pick the likely team Neil Warnock will go with tonight.

Maxwell

Keepers don’t need resting, as they don’t run for miles during games but I think it’s useful to give the backup keeper a chance in the cup anyway as it gives them a bit of competitive match experience to keep them sharp, in case they need to be called upon. The good thing is that Maxwell is an experienced backup rather than a kid from the academy, so he should be fine. He’s played a lot of professional games and will hopefully add a bit of experience and reassurance to a team that’s going to be otherwise fairly young.

Spencer, Ayina, Helik, Nakayama

Brodie Spencer would probably be best being sent out on loan for experience this season but until Turton recovers from injury we need him as backup for Edwards, so this game will be a chance to see how close he is. He looks ro have all the attributes of a good player, but at his age and lack of experience you never know if it will translate into performances in men’s football. He had a tricky evening in last season’s first round of the Carabao Cup but a year is a long time and I’m hoping he’ll do a bit better.

In central defence I would like to see Loick Ayina given a run out. He came back from his loan at Dundee United with good reports after a fairly disastrous appearance for Town in the third round of the FA Cup where he needed to be subbed off before half time because he looked to be on his way to picking up a second booking. I think his loan taught him how to channel his aggression a bit better and he’s not yet been loaned out again, so I presume we’re keeping him as additional cover in central defence. 

While wholesale changes are likely, I think keeping Helik in the team might be a good concession to consistency and keeping a bit of leadership on the pitch. He can shepherd Ayina and organise the back line a bit and at this stage of the season he won’t have any issues on playing Saturday-Tuesday-Saturday. 

Nakayama said in his interview yesterday that his preferred position is left back in a back four, which is how I’d play him in this system. I think he might be a bit too short to play central defence in the physical Championship but as a left back his defensive ability and comfort on the ball will be a real asset to the team. While I’ll be interested to see how he plays, the most important thing for him to both will be to come through this game unscathed after such a significant injury layoff. 

Jones, Jackson, Austerfield, Headley

My defence had a nice mix of youth and experience but this midfield is all youth. Though the central midfield pairing of Jackson and Austerfield isn’t as inexperienced as you might think though, as both players have several seasons’ worth of EFL experience from loans and I’d like to see this particular pairing as there’s a nice balance between these two of energy and ball-playing ability. Austerfield tends to be more of a sitting midfielder, who shields the defence, so Jackson would then be the one given the role of pushing out and closing down space. There may be a minority of Town fans wondering why I’ve not included Scott High in this lineup but he missed out at the weekend with a hip issue, so I’m guessing he’ll still be unavailable but his availability didn’t even warrant a mention in any of the press conferences, so I’m not sure.

On the wings, Pat Jones and Jaheim Headley each offer something a bit different. Headley can provide a bit of cover for Nakayama behind him and allow him to overlap, as he’s comfortable at left back too. But he can also use his pace to get forward. Whereas Jones is more of an out-and-out attacker who will look to get in behind Middlesbrough’s defence at every opportunity. Both will want to get forward and supply the forwards though, as they will want to make a claim for a place in the league team. With Sorba Thomas and Josh Koroma both coming in for criticism from the manager at the weekend, a great performance from a winger could open up an opportunity to start against Leicester at the weekend. 

For completeness, Aaron Rowe is another option on the wings. The B Team played last night and he didn’t feature, so presumably he was being kept fresh for this game but I’d guess only as an option on the bench as he didn’t get close to the first team during preseason despite many other B Team players getting a chance. 

Hudlin, Harratt

Hudlin and Harratt could become a bit of a partnership if they learn to play to each other’s strengths. Harratt seems like a natural finisher and someone that coasts around the box looking for opportunities to score (I’m desperately trying to avoid the natural word to describe this type of player). Hudlin, from what I’ve seen so far, looks like he’s more inclined to be the link man, who can drop off, hold the ball up, bring in the wingers or midfielders and create opportunities for others. So it may be that a natural strike partnership could form. As we tend to mostly see teams play with one striker these days, it’s fairly rare to have a strike team, like in the days of Shearer and Sherringham but this could work. I have a feeling Hudlin, being the less mobile and the obvious target man, will stay central and Harratt will drop off and work the channels.

Jordan Rhodes may also get a chance at some point in this game but I’d guess that would only be for the sake of his match fitness and to give him a chance to show his abilities to potential suitors. His wage demands seem to be putting off Derby at the moment, so it’s hard to know how his future is going to be resolved. He’s better than either Hudlin or Harratt but if he isn’t fancied by the current management then I can’t see them starting him as they won’t want to give him the impression he has a future at the club if they want him to leave.