Predicted Huddersfield Town XI to take on Rotherham

As, at the time of writing, there was no new striker to do a blogpost about, I thought I might as well write an article about the players Huddersfield Town actually do have on their books. So strap yourself in for a predicted lineup article for our encounter with Rotherham at the New York Stadium. 

Steve Evans’ men have had a rocky start to life in League One, with one draw and two defeats so far with no goals in any of their opening three league games. But Rotherham-based stats nerds may take some consolation in the fact they top the league’s xG table, which suggests they’ve had the best chances out of all the teams in the league, even though they’ve failed to finish any of them. I don’t know if that means we should fear them or pity them. Obviously, it’s likely that getting all those chances means they’re a capable team but does it really matter if they’re spurning chances with such regularity? 

Town, on paper, look like the form team going into this match with their three wins from three in the league. But if you scratch the surface of those results you will find some iffy performances in those wins, which are capped by our poor showing in the league cup in midweek too. So perhaps not the best form to be taking into a difficult away game against a team that were much-fancied before the start of the season. 

Having said that, Town should go into every game this season expecting to be at least competitive and being capable of getting something. I don’t think Rotherham will be an easy win, Steve Evans’ teams tend to be set up to do the ugly side of the game very well and not worry too much about the nicer side of football. So it should be an interesting encounter.

Anyway, here’s how I think Town will line up…

Goalkeeper: Lee Nicholls

Unless a late bid comes in for him in between writing this article and the transfer deadline, Nicholls will surely start in goal. Maxwell didn’t do anything particularly wrong against Walsall on Tuesday but we seem a lot more relaxed as a team with Nicholls at the back. He commands the respect of his defence and they know where they stand with him, which makes everything tick a little bit better. He also pulled off some excellent saves last weekend against Shrewsbury, so has already proven the value of having a too-good-for-this-level keeper between the sticks.

Defence: Lees, Helik, Lonwijk

Ideally, Nigel Lonwijk would be eased in gently to first team action after signing this week and his first minutes would be best coming off the bench or in the Bristol Street Motors Cup next week. However, Brodie Spencer is out for at least six weeks with the shoulder injury he picked up last week and Matty Pearson is suspended for one match after his red card against Walssall. So that leaves us short of options in central defence. Turton or Ruffels could be considered as options to step in but if Lonwijk is fit, I see no reason not to put him straight in, as the Wolves loanee has been promised as an upgrade on our passing and ability on the ball whereas the other two mentioned have potential to be a downgrade.

Helik is another one that I’m hoping won’t be making a last-minute departure. So far the signs are good that he’s enjoying life at Town, is buying into “the project” under Michael Duff and wants to stay. But when all is said and done, if he gets the chance to double his wages and have a better chance of getting an international call up by playing at a higher level, it would be understandable if he left even if the timing would be painful.

Tom Lees missed Tuesday night’s trip to Walsall as a precaution following a minor knock, but has been declared fit to play for this match, so I’ve included him in my prediction. It’s possible that Duff was downplaying the issue and Lees will miss out but hopefully we’ll have him available as we’re already a bit thin at the back.

Midfield: Sorensen, Evans, Hodge, Wiles, Miller

Sorensen and Miller are obvious picks at the moment, firstly because of their quality performances but also because of the lack of competition for their places. For Sorensen there is literally nobody pushing for his spot, particularly now David Kasumu is out for six weeks or more with a ruptured ankle ligament (sounds nastier than six weeks out but that’s the timescale Michael Duff put on it). Mickel Miller is in direct competition with Jaheim Headley but there is not much of a competition there at the moment, as Headley was very poor on Tuesday night against Walsall, giving away a penalty with a blatant shove and squandering possession with almost every touch. While both Sorensen and Miller stay fit, the lack of decent backup isn’t an issue but if either picks up a knock or loses form we could be in bother.

In midfield, there’s a similar issue to defence and I think Duff may throw caution to the wind and put his Wolves loanee straight into action there too. This time it’s a choice between Hodge and Hogg, while there is little difference between their names there’s about 15 years difference in age and probably at least 15 meters if they were competing in a 100 meter race. Keeping faith with Hogg would be the steady-as-she-goes option for this game, against a rough and tumble opponent. But his recent form has not been good and he played most of the game in midweek (and in previous seasons he tended to pick injuries up when playing Saturday-Tuesday-Saturday). So I think throwing in the new boy is the bolder and potentially better choice, as we need to improve our midfield’s ability to pass the ball and Hodge has been brought in specifically to address that issue and Hogg has been part of that problem.

Further forward, Wiles and Evans looked brilliant in the Peterborough away game at the start of the season but there has been a diminishing return from both of them in the games since. It’s too soon to talk of dropping either at this stage but continued subdued performances and other options may be worth considering. Though with David Kasumu and Herbie Kane both out of action for over a month, Tom Iorpenda is the only option to replace them without rejigging the formation.

Forwards: Koroma & Marshall

Michael Duff’s injury update on Rhys Healey could have been mind games and the striker might actually be available for selection but the official line is that he’s not likely to feature in this game. After doing well to stay fit throughout preseason he’s now back to struggling to put together a decent run of health. While he’s not properly crocked, he’s beset by niggles that often follow a long-term injury. Hopefully he can get the better of them and play most weeks but currently his body is struggling with the demands placed upon it. 

It seems the starting striker slots are a choice of two from Marshall, Koroma and Ward. While there’s a possibility that Danny Ward could start, I hope he doesn’t because he hasn’t looked like scoring much lately. He’s buzzing around and bumping into defenders a lot but not really getting himself into goal scoring positions nearly enough. Perhaps the issue with him being a winger that re-trained as a striker is that he doesn’t have that instinct to attack the spaces where the chances might fall that a natural striker does as second nature. He rarely seems to be in the right space for a loose ball to fall his way in the box. Whereas Marshall looks to have that strikers’ instinct to anticipate chances and finish them when they come his way. That’s why I’d like him to start ahead of Ward.

Koroma can be frustrating to watch at times but his bid for personal glory does at least benefit the team too when it comes off. And while his tendency to always be trying to shift the ball onto his right foot and shoot, regardless of the circumstances, may be predictable to us fans, at the level Town now find themselves at, he’s skilful enough for that one-trick to be good enough to make him a threat. And is one more trick than Danny Ward currently has up his sleeve (sorry Danny Ward fans, I’ve been harsh on him today).

P.S. At the time of writing we hadn’t signed a striker but we may have by the time you read this. Regardless, any new signings have to have been registered with the league by Friday lunchtime to be eligible to play so anyone we sign after 12pm on Friday won’t be able to play against Rotherham. 

P.P.S. Don’t expect Kyle Hudlin or Kian Harratt to feature in this game or any Town games for the foreseeable future as both have been shipped out on loan. Hudlin has gone to Newport County in League Two for the first half of the season. Harratt has joined Fleetwood Town on a season-long loan , also in League Two. Part of me wondered if we sanctioned these moves because we knew another striker was inbound but it’s more likely that we just knew we could manage without them.