Huddersfield Town’s lack of goals already Carlos Corberan’s biggest concern

It was not due to any frustration the Huddersfield Town defender may have had at being substituted, or exhaustion after a tiring afternoon on the pitch, simply the realisation of the consequences of his error.

After competing for so long and so hard against a Norwich City side that was in the Premier League just a few weeks ago, the 33-year-old’s sloppy back pass had gifted their opponents an 80th-minute winner.

Such was the paucity of Town’s own chances up to that point on Saturday, it instantly felt they would never recover from Adam Idah’s goal and so it proved.

As a start to the Championship season, there were plenty of positives, not least an impressive debut from Pipa, the full-back who had only signed from Espanyol a few days before.

Also, teenage midfielder Ben Jackson earned a first league start and did not look out of place.

However, Town – having also failed to score against Rochdale in the Carabo Cup – are struggling to create chances, something they must quickly address if they are to get off the mark when visiting Brentford on Saturday.

Striker Danny Ward could help solve that conundrum but head coach Carlos Corberan revealed the former Bradford City star – back for a second spell at the club having rejoined from Cardiff City – had felt a hamstring in training that is under investigation.

After seeing Stearman’s error prove so costly, lively Finn Teemu Pukki intercepting and squaring for Idah who had been barely on the pitch for four minutes, Corberan maintained the 33-year-old should be at ease.

“Unfortunately he had that mistake but the team must be ready to help any mistake off any team-mate because this solidarity is going to help us make something important,” said the Spaniard, who is looking to make his mark on Town after joining from Leeds United in the summer.

“It is part of life and part of the game. He doesn’t need to say anything to us.

“We won’t be focusing on the individual mistakes of any player, as a team, and at the end, football is a collective sport.

“The solidarity is key for the style. The team showed the spirit we wanted today and a performance, which is the positive, but the result is the negative.

“We will continue growing and learn from today’s game. A point would have been positive.

“We were always in the game and we didn’t give up after conceding, but we couldn’t do enough to change the result.”

Like Marcelo Bielsa, his mentor at Leeds, Corberan’s style is one of high-intensity and there were signs on Saturday of how he wants his side to approach play.

They were competitive throughout and did not lack any determination, merely some greater detail and accuracy when it mattered most in the attacking third.

That said, Norwich will argue they should have been firmly ahead before Stearman’s error saw Idah – who made his Republic of Ireland debut recently –make the decisive strike.

Indeed, manager Daniel Farke said referee Geoff Eltringham had apologised to him afterwards for not awarding two penalties, including a glaring one when Max Aarons surged into the box and was clearly brought down by Christopher Schindler in the 55th minute.

“It is the first time that has happened to me in my coaching career,” he said, after Norwich – in the same position as Huddersfield who started life back in the Championship last year – ended a 13 winless run dating back to February 28.

“So fair play to him and many compliments. Obviously, it didn’t help us on the pitch but it was good to see him do that. This was the perfect way to start a new season with three points from an away game.

“If I could have painted how I wanted the first game it would have been exactly like that; unbelievably tough against a well-organised opponent who had lots of intensity and speed, showing the Leeds mentality, and it was tough for us.”

Josh Koroma enjoyed Town’s best opportunity at the start of the second period but his right-foot drive was just wide.

Norwich soon flexed their muscles with an unmarked Chris Zimmermann knowing he should have done better after heading over the bar from a corner.

Then came the second penalty appeal which was a major let-off for the hosts who had already gone close to going behind just moments before.

That time, Ben Hamer could only parry Onel Hernandez’s drive and there was a desperate scramble to clear before Pukki pounced.

Poor final balls from Alex Pritchard prevented Huddersifeld from making the most of their counter-attacks.

There was another scare when Schindler dawdled on the ball, not realising Kieran Dowell was directly behind ready to pick his pocket. Fortunately, for the Town captain, the Norwich forward failed to shoot but they would not survive the next mistake.

Huddersfield Town: Hamer; Pipa, Schindler, Stearman (Campbell 82); Toffolo; Jackson (Mbenza 57), Hogg, Pritchard, Diakhaby (Brown 71); Bacuna, Koroma. Unused substitutes: Pereira, Crichlow, Rowe, Edmonds-Green.

Norwich City: Krul; Aarons, Zimmermann, Godfrey, Quintilla; Cantwell (Rupp 89), Skipp, McLean, Hernandez (Placheta 76); Dowell (Idah 76); Pukki. Unused substitutes: McGovern, Hugill, Tetty, Gibson.