‘We have to make this place a fortress,’ says Huddersfield Town’s Jon-Gorec Stankovic

HUDDERSFIELD TOWN utility player Jon-Gorenc Stankovic has praised managerial team Danny and Nicky Cowley for taking the Terriers to ‘another level’ after a worrying start to the season at the John Smith’s Stadium.
By The Newsroom
Published 27th Nov 2019, 17:00 BST
Battling for the cause: Huddersfield Town's Jon Gorenc Stankovic challenges Swansea City's Bersant Celina.Battling for the cause: Huddersfield Town's Jon Gorenc Stankovic challenges Swansea City's Bersant Celina.
Battling for the cause: Huddersfield Town's Jon Gorenc Stankovic challenges Swansea City's Bersant Celina.

Taking over a side who were looking bereft of hope and inspiration after taking just one point from their opening six Championship matches, the duo have presided over some sterling renaissance work since arriving in September, with the players quickly buying in their ethos.

Town’s recovery has been based on hard work, organisation, togetherness and fight, with those characteristics in evidence in Tuesday’s 1-1 draw with high-flying Swansea.

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Fielding a makeshift defence, the Terriers limited the Swans to few opportunities on a night which saw the club extend their unbeaten home sequence to six matches.

It was further evidence that Town are becoming a side who are hard to beat, having lost just once in their last 10 games.

On the influence of the Cowley’s, Stankovic said: “I think he is an amazing coach and him and Nicky have put us on another level.

“We train really hard and they want to push us really hard every day and I like this.

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“We showed against Swansea that we will fight and we played a great game. We want to make this place a fortress.”

Despite registering a second successive home draw on Tuesday, Stankovic insists that the glass remains very much half-full, ahead of forthcoming tough tests against Bristol City and Leeds United.

With Trevoh Chalobah out for the next three games after his dismissal in midweek and with selection issues in defence, Town will have to dig deep in the games ahead, but it is a challenge that sits well with the players.

Stankovic, part of a back four which included midfielders Lewis O’Brien and Juninho Bacuna as auxiliary full-backs on Tuesday, said: “We played a really good game and I think we should have won it.

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“We were missing a bit of luck and end product. But we played good and we are happy with that and we move on.

“We should have had more points, but if we play like this against Bristol and the next games, we will get more points.”

On O’Brien and Bacuna, he added: “They have played two really good games and we can count on them, in midfield or full-backs positions. It is great that players can play in more than one position.”