Path opens up for Huddersfield Town to have an FA Cup run

Different approach: Huddersfield Town manager Carlos Corberan says a better squad and league position mean the Terriers can treat the FA Cup differently to last season. Picture: Isaac Parkin/PA Wire.

JUST like in their sole FA Cup success a century ago in 1922, Huddersfield Town – by a strange quirk of fate – start their latest Cup journey at the same venue, Burnley’s Turf Moor home.

No-one is foolish enough to suggest that Town will be afforded anything resembling a repetition at the end of this year’s competition, which begins in Lancashire tomorrow lunch-time.

Yet current circumstances should dictate that a good old-fashioned Cup run is something that will not be a hindrance to Huddersfield in 2021-22, unlike in previous seasons perhaps.

This time last year, head coach Carlos Corberan elected to change his entire starting line-up for a round-three tie and paid the price as Plymouth Argyle registered a 3-2 success at the John Smith’s Stadium, which was not the shock that it maybe seemed.

Missing: Burnley's manager Sean Dyche will miss the FA Cup tie with Huddersfield after testing positive for Covid.
Picture Tony Johnson — Missing: Burnley's manager Sean Dyche will miss the FA Cup tie with Huddersfield after testing positive for Covid. Picture Tony Johnson

The Spaniard took the decision to rest players en masse owing to the fact that the club, shorn of options due to a growing injury crisis, had to protect first-teamers ahead of what he viewed to be a key and intense period of league games. Something had to give.

Ultimately, the overwhelming priority in the second half of last term proved to be avoiding relegation, as it was in previous three campaigns for the Terriers, who have won just two FA Cup ties in the past four seasons, exiting at the third-round stage in 2020-21, 19-20 and 18-19.

This time around, Town’s improved squad options and healthy league position – allied to the fact that they have not suffered Covid-related postponements unlike many Championship rivals – mean they can ‘attack’ the competition more and hopefully have a bit of fun along the way.

Corberan, who has never sampled success in an FA Cup tie during his time in England with Town or Leeds United, commented: “This competition is a special one. It is 100 years since Huddersfield won the competition and something that is a reason why the club is as big as it is.

“I know I don’t have a very positive (personal) experience maybe. Last year was not a good experience and we decided to use all the academy players as that is how we decided to play.

“But the Championship of last year was a different one to this year. Last year, it was very, very important to have the break at that time.

“But I don’t consider that this year, with the number of games in this space of time, is as demanding as last year.