Striker Steve Mounie confident of hitting target and keeping Huddersfield Town safe

The Terriers’ one-time club record buy has failed to find the net this season after 11 appearances.

The 24-year-old – an £11.5m signing from Montpellier in the summer of 2017 – scored nine times last season, including a brace on his Premier League debut in a 3-0 win at Crystal Palace.

But the Benin international’s last goal came in a 1-1 draw at Brighton on April 7 last season.

On Saturday, the striker came close to breaking his seven-month drought but was twice denied by West Ham United goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski.

The Hammers goalkeeper tipped Mounie’s fierce header onto the crossbar before denying the striker in a one-on-one.

After Alex Pritchard had opened the scoring, Town were punished for their missed chances when Felipe Anderson equalised in the second half.

But Mounie is adamant that the goals will come.

“I am sure I will score some,” he said. “Of course I will. I cannot spend a season without a goal, I am a striker, come on!

“I will keep trying. To score goals, you need chances. If you have no chances you will never score goals and at least I have had chances.

“Of course I will score soon, I am sure about that.”

Mounie could at least take solace in getting his efforts on target, only being denied by the impressive Fabianski.

“The first one, the header, yes it was a good save from him and I think the second one when I shot, I did not make a good choice,” he said.

“I shot at the first post and I should have shot to the other side. I made a bad choice on that one, but he saved it as well. It was still on target. Well done to West Ham’s keeper.”

Mounie is not alone in failing to deliver goals this season.

His team-mates have netted just six goals in 12 games, making them the lowest scorers in the Premier League.

But the Terriers continue to create chances, and against West Ham were twice denied by the woodwork.

As well as Mounie’s header, Philip Billing also saw his cross hit the inside of the post before rolling across goal and away to safety.

“It was not just Philip,” he said. “I had so many opportunities as well. It is the image of our season.

“We’ve been very unlucky, but we’ll keep going and working hard to try and change this because we need to, obviously.

“If we want to score more goals we have to work hard and keep going. If we stop trying we’ll never score.

“I am sure we will have a good win with a big score.

“It was an unlucky draw because for once we were the first team to score.

“We did not take our chances and, if you do not, sometimes the opponents can score and they did.”

Town head into the two-week international break and are not back in action until the trip to Wolves a week on Sunday.

They sit second from bottom in the table, a point adrift of safety and fourth-from-bottom Southampton.

But Town’s performances have deserved more than their seven points – and a solitary win, a 1-0 success against Fulham – accrued to date.

For Mounie, the emphasis has to be about winning points, not just plaudits with the Terriers facing home games against bottom-half teams Brighton, Newcastle United and Southampton before Christmas.

He said: “At the beginning of the season we produced good performances, but the most important thing is to get three points at the end. I am happy when I get three points at the end. If I play well or the team plays well and we get no points, I am not happy when I come back home.

“But if we get three points, even if we play really badly, everyone will still be smiling in the dressing room. That is the most important thing, especially when you are fighting to stay in the league.”

Town are continuing to assess defender Chris Lowe, who may need surgery after being stretchered off with a shoulder injury at the weekend.

The full-back, one of the club’s stand-out players so far this season, faces several weeks out, according to head coach David Wagner, having fallen awkwardly under a challenge just before half-time.

He was replaced by Erik Durm and Wagner said: “He fell on his shoulder and it looks like a serious ligament injury.

“We need further investigations to see if it needs surgery, but he will be out for a few weeks for sure.”

“It is not nice for all of us, especially him, because he was in great form.

“Since the beginning of the season, he has been so reliable and good. Now it is all about supporting him as well as we can so he can come back as quickly and as strong as possible.”