Huddersfield Town boss Carlos Corberan stays positive despite costly mistakes against Preston North End

The Terriers’ four-game unbeaten run was effectively ended in two second-half minutes, when Preston North End captain Alan Browne struck twice to take all three points for the visitors, who claimed their first win in Huddersfield since 1992.

The game swung in those moments, with Town left to rue their own defensive errors as Ben Hamer and Naby Sarr collided with each other in the air, leaving Browne to lob the loose ball in for Preston’s second – and the match-winning goal – shortly after he had grabbed his first.

It was a lack of communication between goalkeeper and defender as Hamer looked to have the ball in his grasp before colliding with Sarr.

Corberan insists that Hamer has the character to respond to the setback as Huddersfield will seek a return to winning ways at Birmingham City on Wednesday night.

The goalkeeper showed he was not fazed by the mistake, making an incredible save in stoppage time to keep the game alive, somehow getting a hand to Tom Barkhuizen’s low, driven effort from point-blank range to leave his side with a glimmer of hope.

However, Preston saw the game out, although they were not happy that seven minutes of stoppage time were played after the fourth official had only awarded five.

“Everything happened very fast but we know that mistakes are part of this game,” said Corberan of Preston’s winner.

“We are not going to say that we lost the game because of one individual mistake from one player. What we try to do is to increase the concentration as a team, always.

“We didn’t do enough in the first 10 minutes of the second half.

“Ben Hamer has the character to react and beat any type of adversity.”

Huddersfield finished the game with 10 men when Sarr was shown a straight red card for fouling Emil Riis Jakobsen as he threatened to break through on goal.

Preston could have been a man light themselves when Brad Potts lunged in recklessly on Fraizer Campbell, only to escape with a yellow card, despite the anger shown by the Terriers at the challenge.

“The only thing I hope is that the referee made the right decision. At the end of the day we need to accept the decision of the referee,” said Corberan of the decision to give Sarr his marching orders.

He added: “We suffered a similar situation in the first half but the referee only showed a yellow card.

“I cannot be focused on the decision of the referee because that is not something I control.

“I only want the referee to be as fair as they can be. I don’t want any favours from them but at the same time I don’t want any unfair situations from them.

“I only want them to make the fair decision.”

Despite the defeat, Huddersfield have now picked up 10 points from their first seven fixtures, having played four of the teams currently occupying a place in the top half.

At the same point last season, the Terriers had just one point to their name and would take 13 matches to reach the 10-point mark.

Huddersfield have also looked to control games more under Corberan and already have a higher possession average compared to last season.

Despite enjoying more of the ball against Preston and boasting a better pass accuracy, Corberan felt his side were careless at times.

North End displayed better game management, disrupting the contest when Huddersfield got on the front foot.

Alex Neil’s side soaked up the pressure from the Terriers after going ahead, thereafter opting to hit the hosts on the counter attack.

It was a move which very nearly paid dividends with Potts and Riis Jakobsen running clear on goal only to be thwarted by last-ditch challenges.

The latter then struck the underside of the crossbar with the final action as Preston took the three points back across the Pennines.

“Nothing surprised us today because we knew about the experience Preston had and we knew their style,” added Corberan.

“We knew it would be complicated, I think the team managed the game very well in some moments.

“The team showed great spirit in a hard situation, because we were a player down.”

Campbell opened the scoring for Huddersfield after eight minutes and Corberan further reflected: “After the positive start we had, we started to give them the ball a lot more easily.

“We expended too much energy defending and didn’t create enough clear chances.

“After the first 10 minutes of the second half the team reacted well and we started to create more chances.”

Huddersfield Town: Hamer; Sarr, Stearman, Schindler (Diakhaby 58); Pipa, Bacuna, Hogg, O’Brien (Eiting 58), Toffolo; Campbell, Mbenza (Koroma 71). Unused substitutes: Pereira, Pritchard, Duhaney, Crichlow.

Preston North End: Rudd; Hughes, Storey, Bauer, Rafferty; Ledson (Harrop 90), Johnson (Maguire 85); Potts, Browne, Sinclair (Barkhuizen 72); Riis Jakobsen. Unused substitutes: Ripley, Bayliss, Stockley, Huntington.

Referee: Joshua Smith (England).

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