Huddersfield Town starting to build a fortress, says Christopher Schindler

Danny Cowley’s side headed into the international break on the back of an outstanding 3-0 home victory over fellow Yorkshire side Hull City – with a haul of seven points from nine having started to lift the gloom following a tough start to the season.

Town return to action with a Roses’ trip to Blackburn Rovers next weekend before back-to-back home games with Boro and Barnsley as they seek to build further momentum after climbing out of the Championship relegation zone.

Schindler said: “We wanted to make that win (at Stoke) a golden one by getting three points at home. We want to make our home a fortress. It is easier said than done, but it feels different now on the pitch, to be fair.

“Everyone knows what to do; even if we lose the ball, we feel solid.

“We still have a lot of things to do, but we have created that base to work from and become better.

“There is a base, especially in the defensive shape and we are harder to break down. We are also defending crosses way better.

“But we should not be getting carried away. We know how hard we worked to get this run and how much we suffered in the first weeks and now we are on this run, we have to work harder to keep it going and keep on top of it.”

Injury-jinxed Middlesbrough striker Rudy Gestede is set for a further spell on the sidelines after suffering a fresh problem in the recent 2-1 defeat at Birmingham City.

The issue is understood to be muscle related and the Benin international is expected to miss the home date with high-flying visitors West Bromwich Albion on October 19.

Aside from Gestede, who has endured a nightmare time at the club since arriving in an £6m deal from Aston Villa in January, 2017, the troubled Teessiders have just two fit senior strikers at their disposal in Britt Assombalonga and Ashley Fletcher.