Richard Keogh ready for Huddersfield Town debut, says coach Carlos Corberan

Coach Carlos Corberan says his new signing Richard Keogh is ready to go straight into the Huddersfield Town team which hosts Millwall in the Championship on Wednesday.
MINUTES: Richard Keogh has been playing regularly for Milton Keynes Dons this seasonMINUTES: Richard Keogh has been playing regularly for Milton Keynes Dons this season
MINUTES: Richard Keogh has been playing regularly for Milton Keynes Dons this season

The 34-year-old Republic of Ireland international played 21 times for Milton Keynes Dons this season before signing a contract to play for Huddersfield until the end of the campaign.

Corberan is very particularly and exacting about the physical and tactical standards he sets before players can appear for the Terriers but believes Keogh's appearance record, his experience and style of play mean he should have no problem slotting in straight away.

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“He has the minutes in the legs,” said the Spaniard. “The last game he played was after the cup game (against Burnley in the FA Cup third round), he played the next Tuesday and he was played all the minutes with extra-time in the cup, then in the league (at Northampton Town) so he has the minutes ready to play consecutive games.

“In the cup they were playing against Burnley, who are a Premier League club, which is more demanding than League One, which is a very demanding and important competition too.

“Another thing is we know he has the skills to play the ball from the back. He's a defender with the spirit to defend a lot but at the same time he feels comfortable with the ball and I think he can add to the team.”

Keogh also has Championship experience, though he has not played in the second tier since October 2019, when the then-captain was controversially sacked for gross misconduct after being injured in a car crash where team-mates Tom Lawrence and Mason Bennett were found guilty of drink driving.

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Huddersfield were light of experience and numbers in the centre of defence because of injuries there. Corberan reckons Richard Stearman and Christopher Schindler are “three to five weeks” away from joining group training after injury. Naby Sarr missed Saturday's defeat to Watford through injury, but is fit to return against Millwall.

“He's in a better condition and we expect to have him in the first XI,” said Corberan of the player signed from Charlton Athletic. “We have Sarr, Keogh and (Romoney) Critchlow as the three available centre-backs.”

Isaac Mbenza and Alex Pritchard are also expected to be in the squad, though holding midfielder Jonathan Hogg is expected to miss the next “two or three” games.

“On Monday Isaac Mbenza joined the group training and it was an important session in terms of the physical work he did,” said Corberan. “I think he can be on the bench for the next game because he missed around 18-20 days so now he's going to need to recover his normal level.

“Pritchard is exactly the same. He has developed really well after the injury and he is a player I hope to have in the squad.”