Huddersfield Town v Luton Town - ‘A vital time for future of our club’ says Danny Cowley

Inheriting a team adrift at the bottom of the table, Cowley’s target all season long has been to hit 50 points, the accepted mark for avoiding Championship relegation.

In this most unusual of seasons, though, it would be unwise to take anything for granted and anyway, the Terriers manager does not want his team sitting on their laurels.

“If we win we’ll get 50 points and we’ll go to Sheffield Wednesday and we’ll want more points because the season is 46 games, it always has been and always will be,”he said.

“It’s about a consistency in performance. In the last three games the work against the ball has been very, very good.”

He is not disguising the importance of the game, though against bottom-of-the-table Luton as his side looks to build on three consecutive clean sheets but only one win, in the first match of the sequence at Birmingham.

“This is a vital time for the future of the club and I feel a responsibility for that,” he said.

“I know if I work as hard as I possibly can every single minute every single day then once I get to matchday I take the pressure off myself because I know I can’t do any more.”

Cowley hopes to have Richard Stearman back after 
“stiffness” ruled him out of Tuesday’s 0-0 draw at Reading, and Cowley paid tribute to the former Sheffield United centre-back’s leadership and the part it has played in bringing the game together.

“We’re fighting very, very hard and the most important thing is we’re now together, the group are helping each other,” he said.

“We’ve come through many trials and tribulations and taken a lot of criticism and that’s brought us together as a group and that can be very powerful.

“He (Stearman) has been fantastic for us since we came in, he’s brought real leadership, a physicality and a fight we needed.

When we recruited in January we were very much recruiting for the culture of the group and that’s why we brought people like Andy King, Jonas (Lossl) and Richard in, who have had a huge impact.

“Once you’ve affected the culture you can hopefully recruit for your game model.

“They’ve all done really well and Stears is a great professional, a great example for the younger players with a deep care for the club, the team and the group.

“On the pitch and off the pitch he drives the standards.”

Cowley also paid tribute for the quiet part centre-forward Steve Mounie has played. He “hopes” Fraizer Campbell will be fit tonight to share the load.

“He played 60 (minutes) on Tuesday and didn’t want to come off but we knew there was another game coming quite quickly and we’re having to manage people’s minutes through this period,” said Cowley.

“You wouldn’t think he was a leader, normally No 9s are very single-minded but he’s really helped certain members of the team who have been finding this situation difficult.

“I know how much they appreciated his time and willingness to help.

“That’s what real teamship is. You’ll always have leaders who wear their heart on their sleeve and scream and shout. Steve is not one of those but it’s been great to see him really step up over the last couple of weeks and help the team in its hour of need. He came back before he was really ready to do and the fact he was willing to put his body on the line says a lot about him as a human being.”

Luton have put contrasting performances in during the last three matches, a defensive 1-1 draw at Elland Road, a 5-0 defeat at home to Reading, then a draw in the crunch game at relegation rivals Barnsley on Tuesday. No wonder Cowley calls it “a crazy league at a crazy time”.

“Luton have a very good away record recently,” he warned. “They’ve come off the back of a point at Wigan prior to lockdown, which we watched. They went to Swansea and beat them, not many teams do that, and they got a well-earned point against Leeds so they are in good form away from home.

“(Manager) Nathan Jones has come back to a club where he was very successful prior to getting the Stoke City job so he already had a relationship with the players so it’s been no surprise they were able to hit the ground running after lockdown.

“We’re under no illusions how tough it will be. We know Luton have to come and win, we know they will be fighting for their Championship lives and we will have to match them and more, and find the fluency in our performance to play at our best.”

Last six games: Huddersfield Town DDWLLL; Luton Town DLDWDD.

Referee: M Donohue (Manchester).

Last time: Huddersfield Town 2 Luton Town 0, September 29, 2007, League One.

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