Reading visit is 'biggest game so far' for Huddersfield Town, says boss David Wagner

THE similarities between the respective promotion pushes of Huddersfield Town and Reading may be striking, but Terriers head coach David Wagner is adamant his own side are the Championship's 'biggest surprise package' this season.
Huddersfield Town head coach David Wagner leads his side into the ground before Saturdays FA Cup tie with Manchester City (Picture: Mike Egerton/PA).Huddersfield Town head coach David Wagner leads his side into the ground before Saturdays FA Cup tie with Manchester City (Picture: Mike Egerton/PA).
Huddersfield Town head coach David Wagner leads his side into the ground before Saturdays FA Cup tie with Manchester City (Picture: Mike Egerton/PA).

Town host the Royals tonight in an eagerly-anticipated encounter between the two clubs sitting just below the automatic promotion places.

Few expected either team to be part of the race for the Premier League, not least the bookmakers who both saw Huddersfield and Reading as more likely to be involved in a scrap for survival at the other end of the table.

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But Wagner and Jaap Stam, both their respective clubs’ first manager from outside the British Isles, have defied those odds in spectacular fashion.

Stam’s side may trail Huddersfield by a point, but the Dutchman had the upper hand when the two teams met at the Madejski earlier in the season.

“This is the biggest (game) for us so far in the Championship,” said Wagner, fresh from his side earning an FA Cup fifth round replay at Manchester City. “Reading are a competitor who are one point behind us. We can make a gap between them and us, and this game is being played at home.

“If there are two teams who are comparable in these two divisions then Reading and Manchester City are those teams, and everyone will agree we did well against Manchester City, who are one of the best teams in Europe.”

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Victory, of course, would help either Huddersfield or Reading maintain the pressure on top two, Newcastle United and Brighton.

“If I was sitting in their chair and had played such a good season like Newcastle or Brighton, but still these competitors were at my back then I would not enjoy it,” added Wagner.

“I would not want them to be still there, like a terrier who never gives up.”

Town’s 1-0 defeat at the Madejski was a frustrating affair with Rajiv van La Parra’s senseless red card for dissent midway through the first half undermining what was otherwise a hugely impressive display against Stam’s men.

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It was not, though, the first time Wagner had crossed coaching swords with the former Manchester United defender.

“We played against each other (as coaches) a couple of times with my Under-23s (at Borussia Dortmund) playing Ajax Under-23s in friendlies during the international break. He (Stam) was assistant and his assistant at Reading (Andries Ulderink) was manager of the Ajax team.

“I did not lose in either game, though to be fair they were both at Dortmund. He has brought that style to Reading. They play with a typical Ajax Amsterdam style, what the club stands for with 4-3-3 and playing out from the back.”

Reading’s previous trip to West Yorkshire came in mid-December, as Stam’s side lost 2-0 at Leeds United despite enjoying 77 per cent of possession.

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Chants of ‘boring, boring Reading’ could be heard as the Royals kept the ball for long periods in their own half despite being behind, along with sarcastic chants of ‘olé’ as the visiting defence passed among themselves. Stam took exception to the criticism, insisting Leeds’s own style was “not my cup of tea” before adding: “If you need to play like that then I don’t want to be a manager.”

Asked about Reading’s style, Wagner said: “There are similarities in how we play. We both prefer to play football on the pitch, rather than in the air.”

The league table suggests Stam is getting it right in his first season back in England since leaving Old Trafford in 2001.

Asked by The Yorkshire Post which of tonight’s combatants was enjoying the most unexpected promotion challenge, Wagner replied: “If you compare us with Reading in terms of the budget, I think we are the biggest surprise package. Though I also believe Burton are doing a very good job so far with the points they have.”

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The Football League last night clarified that if Huddersfield reach the FA Cup and Championship play-off finals this season then the latter will be put back five days to Saturday, June 3.

Town’s progress in the Cup had opened up the possibility of a major clash with the two showpiece occasions being scheduled for May 27 and 29.

This will come as a relief to Wagner, even if the Terriers’ chief is adamant that no one outside the Premier League elite is likely to lift the famous old trophy.

“One of the big guns will win this competition,” said the German, whose side will travel to Middlesbrough in the quarter-finals if they can get past City.

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“I am totally sure about that. Once it is a stage where you can get the silverware in your hand, I am totally sure the big boys will, mentally and physically, make sure they have this in their hands.”

Last six games: Huddersfield Town WWWWWD Reading WWWDWW.

Referee: T Harrington (Cleveland).

Last time: Huddersfield Town 3 Reading 1; March 8, 2016; Championship.