Michael Duff admits Huddersfield Town half-time rollicking as Terriers advance in EFL Trophy

Michael Duff says Huddersfield Town are taking the EFL Trophy seriously after progressing through to the next round this week as they look to build a winning culture at the football club.

Many will be dreaming of a return to Wembley again after defeating Manchester United Under-21s 4-1 at the John Smith's Stadium last night. But head coach Duff said: “Don’t get too far ahead of yourself because you’ll end up tripping over the one in front of you. One thing you do know if you do get to Wembley we’ll take a lot of fans down there.

“I think in the last two games we have shown we have gone really strong in it so we do want to take it serious because we haven’t got a winning culture at the football club yet.

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“There’s been too many years of survive, survive, survive. That’s what we are trying to change and it takes time. You have got to win enough games to get that time. Everyone knows that in my business.”

Analysing the cup win and performance, Duff admitted: “The first half was nowhere near the levels that we require. We had a few words with them at half time. Choice words. Didn’t change anything tactically. It was a miles better performance.

“We need to stop getting to a point where people pick and choose when they want to do things. They either do it or they don’t play.

“Second half was exactly how we wanted to look. We played some really good football. We ran, we competed, we won duels, scored some good goals and created some good chances. A couple of random decisions went against us but didn’t cost us in the end.

“They must have enjoyed the second half more than they did the first. I think the supporters would have been the same and I was exactly the same.

“We need to get to a point where you know what we are going to get week in week out and we are not quite there. When we look like we did the second half we look a really good team but give yourselves a platform to showcase that.

“Since the two Barnsley games and from one (international) break to the next, the Tamworth game aside, we’ll be apologising for that for a long time, we are going to have to take that one, we have gone unbeaten through the rest of it in the league and another win tonight. If we won last Saturday (at Crawley), which I firmly believe that we should have done, we end up fourth in the league.”

As for his plans for the break with the Wycombe clash postponed, he revealed: “They’ll get the weekend off. We spend a lot of time on the road away from families and there is a lot of sacrifice there as well but when they are in they’re working.

“But you should enjoy working hard. It’s an enjoyable job. We are lucky to be in the position that we are at a brilliant football club and a big football club at this level but it’s those big club behaviours that we need to get to.

“There’s not an entitlement. Football doesn’t owe you anything. It’s having that humility and that drive and that hard work and then results look after themselves at the end but you have got to get that everyday and that is what we are trying to get to.”