Huddersfield Town head coach Michael Duff has called for his side to focus on recent performances when they host Bristol Rovers this weekend despite experiencing a sticky run of form.
The Terriers have won five and lost five of their opening 10 League One matches having gone into the campaign as one of the favourites for promotion following their relegation from the Championship last season.
However, four of those defeats came in consecutive matches as Huddersfield suffered home losses to Northampton Town and Blackpool before also losing at Reading and Birmingham City.
Duff’s men did, however, stop the rot before the international break with 2-0 wins over Barnsley in the league and then the Bristol Street Motors Trophy and is hoping that they can return to the form with which they started the campaign as they won their opening four games.
“I think the Reading and Birmingham games we were better but didn’t win them,” the Cheltenham Town legend declared to local press ahead of facing Rovers at the John Smith’s Stadium on Saturday. “The performances were much better than the weeks before that so that’s all we can keep focusing on. Performances, creating chances, hopefully win the game.
“A typical Matt Taylor team,” Duff added when asked what he expects from the Gas. “They’ll mix it up. They’ll play long, they’ll play. They’ve got some good athleticism in the team.
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“They’ve been on a bit of a bad run but they’ve won their last two league games. I think we’ve proved it now, I don’t have to keep saying it every week, we’re at home, they’ll be up for it. We need to take the game to them and deliver a performance that can win the game. If we do like we have done in the last couple of weeks, and I don’t just mean the last two results.”
It’s the first time the West Yorkshire outfit have played at League One level since 2012 with that period including two seasons in the Premier League with Saturday’s game the first meeting between the two sides since 2011.
That season did see Rovers win at Huddersfield in their last visit to the John Smith’s Stadium, winning 1-0. In fact, the Gas are unbeaten in their last three trips to that part of West Yorkshire.
Like the Terriers, Taylor’s side also recently experienced a run of four consecutive defeats, but backed them up with back-to-back league wins over Charlton Athletic and Burton Albion by 3-2 and 3-1 scorelines respectively before a much-changed side fell to an embarassing 4-0 defeat at Swindon Town in the Bristol Street Motors Trophy.