Huddersfield Town v Stoke City: Terriers defender Tom Lees is determined squad will overcoame ‘first test’

Up for it: Huddersfield Town defender Tom Lees says the squad are determined to get backj up the table after a poor start. Picture: Anthony Devlin/PA Wire.

As experienced defender Tom Lees concedes, the true test arrives in the hard moments – which the Terriers most definitely find themselves in now.

A miserable start to 2022-23 would be compounded by another bad day today. Lees acknowledges it is something that Town can simply ill afford.

Pulling no punches, Lees, who led the side in Tuesday’s wretched EFL Cup loss to Preston, said: “It is a million miles away from what we were doing last season and something has got to be rectified as soon as possible because these things can snowball and escalate pretty quickly and it’s something we need to put a stop to.

Baptism of fire: Huddersfield Town manager Danny Schofield has lost his first three games in charge. Picture: Richard Sellers/PA Wire.

“We will be looking to do that on Saturday and we cannot afford to have another defeat in the league and if that happens, it would be a terrible start.

“We have got to use that feeling we had on Tuesday in the dressing room and at home and looking back at the game and how disappointed you are as motivation to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

On the importance of Town’s dressing room staying strong, he continued: “I’d like to think so. Last year, apart from at the start of the season, everything went pretty well from my experience and it is pretty easy when things are going well – at the training ground and everything.

“You come in and everything is straightforward.

“We got great support and a lot of praise last season, rightly so and this is probably our first test now.

“That’s how you see how strong it really is and how strong characters are. It is now when we see what the dressing room is made of.”

Lees is someone who has sampled hard spells earlier in his career across Yorkshire at Sheffield Wednesday and Leeds United and has experience to call upon.

There is an emphasis on senior players to take the lead in such times, but equally, it’s about collective responsibility in his view.

He added: “I’d equally say that once you get on the pitch, age doesn’t matter as you are there on merit and an equal. But us senior lads have a part to play and we have got to drive it and that’s what we did last season and it was a big part of last season.

“First of all, we have got to do our jobs and everyone has got their own responsibilities and roles and if you can, try and protect those around you. But that is not limited to the older lads, everyone can do that. Sometimes, the lads who are fresh and haven’t been through it before are unaware of what is going on and can sometimes spark something. It’s down to everybody.”

Town have brought in highly-rated Aston Villa defender Kaine Kesler-Hayden on a season-long loan and the 19-year-old could make his debut today.

The England youth international can operate at right-back and right wing-back and spent pre-season with Villa’s first-team squad before the decision was made to loan him out to the Championship with Town beating off competition to sign him.