Why Huddersfield Town boss Carlos Corberan is happy with selection options at his disposal

The Terriers suffered the blow of losing Jordan Rhodes and Pipa for two to three months with back and hip injuries respectively, but showed against Everton they have options without them.

Danel Sinani impressed on his full debut after joining on loan from Norwich City, forward Sorba Thomas showed he is as comfortable covering for Pipa at right wing-back as he was deputising for Harry Toffolo on the left, and Duane Holmes produces one of the best performances of his second spell at the club.

Ollie Turton is the most natural deputy for Pipa, who went under the knife hours before Huddersfield went out of the second round with a 2-1 defeat but coach Carlos Corberan has been keen to have two players for every position this season and Thomas is emerging as an extremely valuable one.

“He gives us lots of options: he can play as a wing-back or as a winger on the left or the right,” said Corberan. “It’s always good to have players you can trust in multiple positions.

“I was thinking Tuesday would be a challenge so we’d need options from the bench. We evaluated the team and we’ve shown we have more options with more mature, experienced players who can help us from the bench. Unfortunately we’ve lost Rhodes and Pipa through injury but we have options.”

Sinani was signed to bring extra flair to a Huddersfield team which can lack a bit of creativity. Corberan has been slow to throw him in, conscious that despite coming from Norwich, he had never played English football before arriving in West Yorkshire.

“We have no doubt about the quality of Sinani,” insisted the Spaniard. “We know he needed some time to be ready to compete and reach his physical levels and he’s been playing for the B team so that he was ready.”

Sinani and Holmes played in mirror roles as what Corberan called “false wingers” but older fans would refer to as inside forwards in a 3-4-2-1 formation.

His coach felt it suited Holmes because “it allowed him to find more freedom”.

In midfield, Scott High suggested he could be ready to step up if the Terriers are made an offer they cannot refuse for Lewis O’Brien, who was on the bench, though they would much rather have the pair in tandem, while Tom Lees came in at centre-back to give 18-year-old Levi Colwill a breather.

There are still areas which needed improving, most notably in terms of goalscoring, but the squad looks deeper and better than last season’s.