Huddersfield Town manager Danny Cowley getting the ‘right sort of headaches’

It is a barometer of the recent progress under Danny Cowley that the current dilemmas occupying the thoughts of the Town chief and his brother and assistant Nicky are ones that all those in management hanker for.

Whereas just a month back, stopping the rot and concerning themselves with where the next clean sheet and point – let alone win – was coming from dominated the thoughts of the pair. Now the issue to contend with is trying to assimilate two of the club’s most expensive ever signings back into their plans.

With the feelgood factor prevalent following an unbeaten three-match sequence which has yielded seven points from a possible nine – thereby transforming the club’s season in many respects – the availability of Alex Pritchard and Terence Kongolo is a further boon.

Both are available following injury for tomorrow’s Roses trip to Blackburn Rovers, the start of a key trio of fixtures over the coming week which also sees home appointments with Middlesbrough and Barnsley.

Cowley said: “It is always nice when you have some good results and some key players are back.

“That certainly gives me a selection dilemma and that is always what you want as a manager.

“You always want these problems and are worried when you do not have the problems.

“It is up to us to consider the opponent and the three games in quick succession and try to select the right team for the right game.

“Pritch played the first half in last Friday’s behind-closed-doors game and looked bright. Technically, he is an outstanding player and he will definitely add to this group and gives us different options in terms of formation and a different style of player in that position.

“It is a real positive he has been back on the grass and he has had another really good week this week so we are in a position where he is available.

“It is massively exciting as he offers that little bit of something different.

“Terence has also been back on the grass, which is a real positive. It will be good to have him back as well.”

Following easily the club’s most uplifting spell of 2019, expectation is rising again among Town fans, who have been able to savour the international hiatus rather than worry about where the next win is coming from.

But for Cowley, there has certainly been no let-up either in training or in his longer-term plans for the club.

Work has been intense at the club’s Canalside training base and behind-the-scenes, recruitment plans are being hatched with the clock starting to tick regarding the opening of the winter window at the start of January.

In a fans’ forum earlier this week, Cowley revealed that, in an ideal world, he would like to trim his squad numbers down from 28 to 22, while focusing on quality and not quantity when it comes to any incoming signings to add to the group in that regard.

He added: “We are constantly working with our recruitment team to make sure we know what players are available. We are working hard to change the model as we feel there is work we can do.

“We understand January is a very tough window and not an easy one to work around and we have to do a lot of planning and preparation to cover every contingency to ensure we are in a good place so once it opens, we are ready to react accordingly.”