Michael Duff addresses Huddersfield Town 'pressure' ahead of Crawley Town challenge

Huddersfield Town head coach Michael Duff has called on his side to “react in the right way” from their FA Cup defeat to Tamworth when they take on Crawley Town tomorrow afternoon.

The Terriers are preparing to return to League One action as they face the Red Devils at the Broadfield Stadium, with Town tasked with bouncing back from last week’s shock cup exit.

Today’s opponents sit fourth from bottom in the division, on 11 points from 14 matches played, with just one win recorded from their last 11 league games.

READ MORE:Huddersfield Town get Rhys Healey injury boost for Crawley Town but midfield duo may miss out

READ MORE:Michael Duff makes Huddersfield Town pledge after squad mentality comments

Despite acknowledging that the expectation will be on his side to win the game, Duff warned that the Terriers face a tough test this weekend. “We’ve got to go down and try and react in the right way,” the head coach said.

“We’ve had a run of games where we were poor, and we’ve reacted in a decent way, so can we go to Crawley [and produce a reaction]? Difficult game, because they play unbelievably expansive football, so they sometimes give you a chance if you can get it right, but they can really hurt you as well.

“The last home game, they just went and beat Lincoln 3-0, so it’s a really awkward game, because the expectancy again up here will be ‘well you’ve got to go and beat them’. We’ve proved this season it’s not always that easy.

“We’ll be looking for a collective response. We’ve been in all week, we’ve picked the bones out of it, we’ve shown them, and they’ve been uncomfortable watches, there’s been uncomfortable conversations, but I think you have to tell the truth.

“There’s no point trying to kid them on, going ‘oh it’s only a one-off, never mind’, it matters. It matters to them, it matters to us, it matters to the supporters, who forked out money and drove down the road. Hopefully it’s been addressed, but you have to move forward.”

Prior to last Friday’s setback, Town had produced an upturn in results in their League One campaign, winning three and drawing one of their last four league games. The Terriers sit seventh in the division ahead of kick-off, on 22 points from 13 games played.

Despite being knocked out of the FA Cup by non-league opposition last week, Duff insists there is no additional pressure on his side heading into the Crawley contest. Duff acknowledges that expectation is constantly high on his team this season as they bid to secure a return to the Championship.

“I feel the pressure every week. Pressure’s part of the job, so do I think it’s been ramped up? No I don’t,” said Duff.

“We’ve just gone a month unbeaten, we’ve had a bad result, how do you respond? If we’d have won, no-one would’ve given us any credit, it doesn’t matter, you just move on. We’ve picked the bones out of it, all we can do is expect a reaction.

“If we get beat on Saturday, I’d like to think that it isn’t because we’ve been outrun, outfought, out-tackled, out-headed, out-scrapped. That’s the bit. You can handle getting beat (if you do the right things).

“We got beat at Reading, I thought we played quite well. The Northampton game was a completely different thing, because it was an adversity thing. There was nothing in the game at the start, score an own goal and fall apart. The Blackpool game, we weren’t very good, but the FA Cup game was a mentality, it was a heart thing more than anything else.

“Do I feel any more pressure? No. When you’re the manager of a football club like this, there’s pressure. When you don’t have pressure, you’re not in a job.

“Fear of failure doesn’t drive me, that doesn’t get me out of bed, it’s trying to achieve success, but success is difficult and it’s hard, and it doesn’t go in a straight line, so just keep moving on.”