Thankfully Town fans don’t have to spend too long feeling sorry for themselves after Saturday’s humbling at the hands of Fulham as they look to bounce back against Preston at the John Smith’s Stadium tonight. Preston have their own problems to deal with, after losing their first two games, so both sides will be desperate to get back to winning ways.
The fact that neither side has had a good start to the season so far could make this game resemble two half-blind pigeons squabbling over a cigarette butt, with lots of determination on show but little skill. While Town’s players and coaching staff will be desperate to turn in a performance and a result after Saturday, Preston won’t be pushovers and it could be a war of attrition.
Thankfully Carlos has a few players returning to the squad tonight, so there are a few more tricky decisions for this evening’s game. Here’s how I think we’ll line up:
Goalkeeper: Lee Nicholls
On Saturday Corberan said that O’Brien would be the only one of the covid affected players available this evening but in yesterday’s press conference he confirmed that Nicholls has been cleared to return this evening. Surely he’ll come straight back into the starting lineup and give Ryan Schofield time to lick his wounds and recover some confidence away from the spotlight of competitive games.
Defence: Turton, Pearson, Sarr, Colwill
I don’t think any of our defenders could be too disappointed to be dropped ahead of tonight’s game after the shocking goals we conceded at the weekend but I suspect we’ll keep things settled for now and give them the chance to redeem themselves.
Turton is certain to start as Pipa is ruled out due to his injury which sounds worryingly like it could be one of those ones that takes many months to properly sort out.
Pearson looked iffy on Saturday and his ability on the ball doesn’t look good enough to fit into this system. However, apparently Tom Lees isn’t much of a ballplayer either, so there’s no advantage to swapping one for the other as far as I can see. If Pearson has too many more bad days then it’s likely he’ll make way for Lees but I think we’ll aim for a settled back line wherever possible this season.
Against Preston I expect us to look to dominate the ball more and to have a more attacking setup, so that means switching back to 4-3-3 even though we don’t have a designated leftback available. Levi Colwill looks perfectly capable of doing a job in that role though while we wait for Ruffels and Toffolo to both return to fitness after recovering from covid. Carlos suggested both had worse symptoms than the others and are likely to take longer to make it back to fitness.
Midfield: Hogg, O’Brien, High
Hogg and Vallejo showed exactly why they aren’t suited to play together on Saturday and the fact that Vallejo was subbed at half time was proof that the experiment was a failure. Both were too defensive and it meant the midfield battle was surrendered before the game had even kicked off.
Duane Holmes was the other member of the midfield three on Saturday and apart from a very nice through ball that Ward blasted wide he didn’t create much and tended to make things worse rather than better whenever he did get on the ball. There were also numerous reports on Twitter that he swore at the fans in the Kilner Bank when he received some stick for his performance. Holmes said the other week that he feeds off the energy from the fans but he didn’t say whether it was positive or negative energy. Maybe he’s like a panto villain and thrives on boos and hisses. He’d be better to concentrate on his own game rather than lashing out at his own fans.
Scott High was one of the few players to emerge from Saturday with any credit, as his energy in midfield was a large part of the good spell we had shortly after half time. Whether he’s got enough quality to be a regular in the Championship at this stage of his career is debatable but on current form he deserves to start over Duane Holmes or Alex Vallejo. Oh, and Reece Brown, who I keep forgetting exists, as does Carlos I’m guessing as he hasn’t yet brought him off the bench in a league game.
Unless things develop quickly over the course of today, Lewis O’Brien is a Huddersfield Town player and no bids have been accepted for him. While this remains true he should play as we don’t have enough alternative options to allow him to sit on the sidelines with his bags packed. He’s a model pro, so will give his all regardless of his desire to test himself in the Premier League and we need his bite and drive in the middle of the park.
Forwards: Thomas, Campbell, Koroma
I think that we’ll only do well in this game if we play to our strengths, so that means putting Koroma on the left of a front three where he’s been so effective in the past rather on the right or as part of a front two. This allows him to play as an inverted winger, where he can cut inside onto his stronger foot.
Thomas can then play on the right wing, which should suit him too, as his crossing is his biggest asset and he’ll be able to stay wide and put balls into the box using his preferred right foot. He’s done an OK job as a left wingback these last couple of games but I’d rather see him playing higher up the field, where he can get after his fullback and have more opportunities to put balls into the box.
I have a feeling I’m going to spend a lot of time talking about which is the least worst option of our strikers this season as all three of Ward, Rhodes and Campbell have question marks over them. Danny Ward deserves to be dropped after his first half display against Fulham, where he only touched the ball seven times and completed just one pass (which came when he took the kick off). Rhodes hasn’t really impressed much either so I would start Campbell. Not that I think he’s the answer to our prayers but at least he’ll battle and work hard for the team, making space for the likes of Koroma, Thomas and O’Brien to hopefully exploit.
Score prediction: Town 2 – 1 PNE
I think it will be another of those “two poor sides” kind of games where the result will mostly depend on which team fights the hardest and makes the fewest blunders. If this group of players care about Corberan keeping his job then they will have to dig in and produce a result today. A good performance as well as a win would do a lot to settle the nerves but getting three points on the board is probably more important given we’re unlikely to get much at Bramall Lane on Saturday.
Defensive errors seem to happen regardless of who is in our back line, so it’s unlikely we’ll keep a clean sheet but if we play to our strengths and get the likes of Koroma and Thomas on the ball in dangerous areas, I can see us scoring a few at the other end. As they say, it’s the hope that kills you!
Spot on conclusion – it’s the hope that kills you.
The biggest question is who plays as the central striker. Your assessment is absolutely right. I’m no Campbell fan but all of a sudden he’s looking like the best option. I cling to a hope that if Rhodes could just get off the mark, then we might see more of the player of old. Ward has had plenty of playing time this season and I’ve seen nothing convincing – to be discarded.
Result? 0-0
Thanks Simon. I agree that Rhodes could be a completely different player if he gets a couple of goals under his belt. Though he thrived at Town when he had Alan Lee or Lee Novak busting a gut while he ghosted into the box to apply the finishing touch. Campbell could be the workhorse he needs alongside him but then you’d also need proper wingers to supply crosses, meaning 4-4-2 which isn’t fashionable outside of Burnley these days.
I think that until Toffs and Pipa come back this is our best option.
Carlos said that he made a mistake dropping High vs Fulham, so you’re (hopefully) spot on with the midfield.
Agree 100% with the front three.
Let’s see what 7:45 brings…
It’s a tough one up front, Campbell will work hard from the front and offer much more tenacity. But it’s goals we need and whilst Rhodes hasn’t scored yet he has got himself in to more goalscoring positions than Ward and Campbell, we know he can score so I’d stick with Rhodes.
I suppose if Jordan has Hogg chewing his ear all the time he’ll be forced to press.
PNE mates just as anxious as Town fans.
Agree with Jay. the return of Nicholls, High and O’Brien makes the side look better and I prefer Campbell to the other two as he defends from the front and keeps the ball better. the day when we also have Toffs and Pippa back cant come too soon, but am a bit concerned about this injury that Pippa keeps having, but as we all know its Huddersfield Town we are talking about and just about anything is possible, 3 points will not keep the devil from the doorbut it will sure give him a kick.
I don’t want to see Ward again in a Town shirt as he is not good enough at this level. That goes for Schofield too. Certainly not until he gets some experience in the lower leagues to get some confidence, that is if any one will have him. The players that I would like to see return to the squad are Bacuna and Mbenza. Bacuna on his day is a class player and Mbenza was dangerous and much better for a period last season. They are certainly no worse than the players that we now seem to rely on and we are still paying out substantial wages to them. It’s difficult to know how much say Corberan has in playing these two or Grant before them. I would guess very little as he just seems to do what Bromby and Co tell him. Something will have to be decided soon as the transfer window close soon and it appears that they have no suitors.
I would love to see Rhodes play alongside Campbell, I think its our last hope that something might work up front.
Campbell seems that he can do plenty apart from score, and if hes not too selfish and can feed Jordan some ball we do know Rhodes can finish given chances.