HUDDERSFIELD TOWN may be the ultimate banana skin in the Championship at the moment.
The Terriers have had an atrocious start to the campaign, sitting at the bottom of the table with just twelve points from fifteen games. They’ve only won one of their last six matches and fans are concerned that they may soon be cut adrift from the rest of the relegation contenders.
However, it’s important not to forget that Huddersfield were last season’s beaten play-off finalists. While they’ve lost a lot of key players, they’ve managed to keep the core of their squad over the summer. Manager Carlos Corberan departed almost immediately after they failed to reach the Premier League while his replacement, Danny Schofield, didn’t last much longer.
Now the responsibility belongs to Mark Fotheringham, who moved to the John Smith’s Stadium in September after a stint in Germany where he worked as assistant manager to Felix Magath at Hertha Berlin.
Results haven’t drastically improved overnight, but the new boss has come in with a much stricter approach than his predecessors. He isn’t afraid to upset anybody, which might be the attitude that the Terriers need to get them up the league table.
It presents Millwall with quite a difficult situation. On paper, the Lions should easily win in West Yorkshire this weekend. Their record is much better than Huddersfield’s and their recent performances back it up too, especially having beaten some of the strongest teams in the division in recent weeks. However, complacency can be a killer in the Championship and manager Gary Rowett is determined to give their upcoming opponents all the credit that they deserve.
“You can’t forget they’ve got a new manager who has come in with new ideas, having worked in Germany,” he told NewsAtDen.
“I’m sure it won’t feel like Huddersfield are bottom of the league. It’ll feel like they’ve got a new manager in charge, it’ll feel like they’re one home result away from kick-starting their season.
“They’ve had some good results since he’s come in, some tough away points. I’m sure they’ve shown signs of real improvement.
“For us, it will never be any different. It’ll be about us focusing on what we can control, which is our own performance, and we’ll treat Huddersfield exactly like we treated Watford and exactly like we treated West Brom, with great respect that we’ve got to go and play really well to get a result.”
Millwall will have the chance to prove that their run of poor away form has finally come to an end by recording consecutive victories on the road for the first time since the start of March. If they do pick up maximum points on Saturday afternoon, they will move up to fourth in the table should Swansea City and Sheffield United fail to beat Bristol City and West Brom respectively.
Rowett is adamant that he isn’t looking at the Lions’ position this early in the campaign, but there’s no denying that this patch of impressive form has boosted the confidence of the players and given the supporters a reason to follow the team across the country in the coming weeks.
Millwall will be without three players for their trip up north, with Ryan Leonard [hamstring], Murray Wallace [groin] and Shaun Hutchinson [hamstring] all sidelined.
Otherwise, Rowett has a fully fit squad to choose from, while the likes of Charlie Cresswell and Scott Malone will almost certainly be given another chance to prove that they can keep their places in the starting lineup.
Possible Millwall XI: 4-2-3-1: Long; McNamara, Cresswell, Cooper, Malone; Mitchell, Saville; Voglsammer, Flemming, Bennett; Bradshaw
Match odds: Huddersfield 21/10 Draw 21/10 Millwall 11/8
Last meeting: Championship (March 16, 2022): Millwall 2-0 Huddersfield (Afobe 22’, 57’)
Photo: Millwall FC