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Michael Duff fires warning to Huddersfield Town squad as Birmingham City await

-Credit:CameraSport via Getty Images
-Credit:CameraSport via Getty Images


Huddersfield Town boss Michael Duff says his side will “have to be better” than what they were against Bolton Wanderers to pick up a result against League One leaders Birmingham City tomorrow evening.

The Terriers are tasked with bouncing back from Saturday’s 1-0 defeat at the John Smith’s Stadium when they host the Blues tomorrow in an 8pm kick-off.

Town sit fourth in the division on 48 points from 26 matches played, while Chris Davies’ side are on 57 points after 25 games, with the league leaders two points clear of second-placed Wycombe Wanderers with two games in hand.

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Duff said: “I don’t think Birmingham will change for us. They’ll want to dominate the ball, they’ve got a set way of playing.

“They’re a 4-3-3, but then out of possession, they build in a three. A lot of football now is pretty fluid, it’s hard to actually stick on formations.

“A young manager, they’re going really well in the league. I went to the game last week against Wrexham, obviously the big Hollywood one that everyone kept going on about, but they won’t be interested in that. They’ve invested heavily, but they’re top of the league, so Chris is doing a good job.

“I think no matter what Chris does or Birmingham do this year, he won’t get any credit, because people are lazy and will say ‘oh they’ve spent the most money and they’ve bought the best players’, which there is a little bit to that, because they have spent the most money. You’ve got to keep people happy, you need to keep winning, and it’s not always that easy.

“He’s in a difficult position really, but I’m sure he won’t be interested. As long as his team are top of the league and they’re winning every week, he’s not really bothered what other people [think] I would’ve thought.

“They’re in a good place, they’ve had a big reset. They’ve had years and years [that] ultimately ended in the relegation, and they’ve swept the decks, new manager, a whole new team, spent a fortune on the ground, and when you walk into the ground, there’s a good feel to the place at the minute. They’ve done it well, but we just know that there’ll be a good team turning up, and we’ll have to be better than what we were on Saturday to get a result.”

Duff insists that he is not paying attention to the potential significance of tomorrow's encounter in the promotion race, saying: “I don’t worry about what other people think or what their perception of it is.

“You go to Wycombe a couple of weeks ago [and win], and then you draw a couple, and four months unbeaten turns into one win in five. People change the narrative to whatever they want.

“We know that we’re going to have to be better than what we were, and our aim will be to win the first half tomorrow night, and then depending on what the result is, come in at half-time, rejig it, put the music back on and try and win the next half. That’s just the way that I’ve always worked.”

The Terriers were unable to break down their opponents on Saturday, with Aaron Collins’ winning goal in the 55th minute ending Town’s 16-match unbeaten run in League One. Duff said: “The quality’s in there, we’ve seen it before, so you just hope it was a bad day at the office and it was an off day.

“That’s what you hope, and if it isn’t, you change the team and personnel, because we’ve got a bigger squad now.

“It almost feels like the start of a season again, because you’re integrating new players, there’s lots of players that have been out a long time, so you’re trying to get them up to speed as well, so it might take a little bit of time.

“I don’t think the players have turned into a horrible bunch just because they got beat. We lost the game, park it up, move on, and it’s a brilliant game to have following up after being four months unbeaten, because these are very, very good.”