Defence is priority as Huddersfield Town boss Carlos Corberan braces for tough second half

CARLOS CORBERAN is expecting the second half of the Championship campaign to prove even more demanding than the first.
Huddersfield Town's Aaron Rowe, left, celebrates his goal against Plymouth (Picture: Jonathan Gawthorpe)Huddersfield Town's Aaron Rowe, left, celebrates his goal against Plymouth (Picture: Jonathan Gawthorpe)
Huddersfield Town's Aaron Rowe, left, celebrates his goal against Plymouth (Picture: Jonathan Gawthorpe)

The Huddersfield Town chief saw his side knocked out of the FA Cup by League One Plymouth Argyle on Saturday, making the league the Terriers’ only focus for the remainder of the season.

Corberan made 11 changes to the side for the cup fixture, with only four players who started their previous Championship match against Reading able to complete a full week’s training – highlighting the physical demands placed on players this season.

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There has been plenty that has pleased the Spaniard during his first season in charge in West Yorkshire.

Huddersfield
Town's Mustapha Olagunju takes on Argyle's Ryan Hardie. (
Picture: Jonathan Gawthorpe)Huddersfield
Town's Mustapha Olagunju takes on Argyle's Ryan Hardie. (
Picture: Jonathan Gawthorpe)
Huddersfield Town's Mustapha Olagunju takes on Argyle's Ryan Hardie. ( Picture: Jonathan Gawthorpe)

Huddersfield are six points better off than at the same stage last season and sit 13th in the Championship ladder – they never got higher than 17th last term.

Corberan is keen to improve his side’s defensive return, with Town conceding 32 goals in 23 league games.

“The clear target we have is to be more competitive in the Championship, especially now that we are out of this competition,” said Corberan.

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“We wanted to continue in the FA Cup but now we have to concentrate on the only competition we are playing in now.

Plymouth 
Argyle's Joe Edwards scores the winning goal.
 (Picture: Jonathan Gawthorpe)Plymouth 
Argyle's Joe Edwards scores the winning goal.
 (Picture: Jonathan Gawthorpe)
Plymouth Argyle's Joe Edwards scores the winning goal. (Picture: Jonathan Gawthorpe)

“It is going to be very demanding, and I expect the second half of the season to be even more demanding. For us, we need to continue improving.”

He continued: “When we are in the position we are in, you can always have some positive signs.

“Now is a good moment to make a good evaluation. It is good to see what we are receiving from the players in the amount of minutes they are playing.

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“Collectively, we need to continue growing from a defensive point of view.

“We don’t want to concede the amount of goals that we have in the league. Our focus is going to be on improving. You can always perform better.

“Even though we have played a lot of games with the same players, we don’t want excuses.

“We want to demand the highest level, that is how we can grow. I feel we can compete better.”

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Despite making a raft of changes against Plymouth, Corberan insisted that was not reflective of how he felt about the fixture.

He believed advancing in the competition would have given him further opportunities to blood some of his squad’s fringe players. Saturday’s starting line-up only had 22 league starts between them this season, 15 of which came from goalkeeper Ben Hamer.

“It was important for us to continue in this competition,” added Corberan.

“Even if we use the competition to continue growing our squad and give players this type of experience. At the same time, to play with a team who have not played many minutes, they still need to take that responsibility to help the club continue in the competition.

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“I think there are some positive things but there are some details the players need to improve on.”

New arrival Danny Grant was set to be named among the substitutes against Plymouth but wasn’t risked after suffering a slight hamstring strain .

Corberan admits it will take time for the player, signed from League of Ireland side Bohemians, to adapt to the demands of the Championship.

The 20-year-old was a part-time player with his previous club, training just three times a week.

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“He felt something yesterday in training in his hamstring,” confirmed Corberan.

“He doesn’t have the habit of training constantly. He was usually working three times a week with his previous club.

“Now his body needs to adapt to training consecutively, with high intensity and with players who have been playing in the Championship.”

Despite Town’s lack of experience, they led twice and looked bright in attack against Plymouth but Argyle’s nous eventually told, with Danny Mayor causing constant problems down the left-hand side, assisting two of the Devon club’s goals.

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Strikes from Ryan Hardie, Panutche Camara and Plymouth captain Joe Edwards cancelled out first-half efforts from Romoney Crichlow and Aaron Rowe.

Crichlow glanced a header across the face of goal and into the net to open the scoring but Hardie hit back as Luke Jephcott slid the ball through for the striker who squeezed the ball in at the near post. A remarkable strike from Rowe restored the advantage just after the half-hour mark as the 20-year-old cut in from the right and unleashed a rasping effort into the top corner from approximately 25 yards.

Huddersfield had battled hard but were pegged back before half-time as Mayor clipped a ball across the box for Camara to control and finish.

Plymouth took the lead – one they wouldn’t relinquish – for the first time with 70 minutes on the clock as Mayor drove to the byline and cut it back for Edwards to finish as Argyle recorded an FA Cup victory over Town for the first time in their history.

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Huddersfield Town: Huddersfield Town: Hamer, Duhaney, Olagunju (Diarra 77), Vallejo,Crichlow, Brown (Jackson 77); Austerfield (Camara 83), Daly (Bright 83), Rowe; Phillips, Jones (Aarons 71). Unused substitutes: Schofield, Ayina, Elliott, Sharrock-Peplow. 

Plymouth Argyle: Cooper; Aimson, Opoku, Watts; Fornah (Wootton 85); Edwards, Camara, Mayor, Grant (Moore 85); Hardie (Nouble 77), Jephcott (Telford 82). Unused substitutes: McCormick, Ruddy, Canavan, Reeves.

Referee: M Coy (Durham).

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