Huddersfield Town ‘diversity’ needed as Mansfield Town result underlines

Town were held to a 0-0 draw against 10 men

Martin Drury believes Huddersfield Town lacked “killer instinct” in their draw with 10-man Mansfield Town as he discussed the need for his team to diversify their attacking approach.

The Terriers toiled for a go-ahead goal at the weekend after the hosts were reduced to 10 just a couple of minutes into the second half, with half-time substitute Owen Dodgson receiving a straight red card.

They had 19 shots on goal at an overall xG of 1.49, but only two were on target as they were forced to settle for a scoreless draw in Nottinghamshire, with Drury feeling his team were unable to make the most of spatial advantages afforded to them by the numerical advantage.

Drury stated: “We made attacking substitutions [after the red card], and they went to a 5-3-1, which meant that the outsides were a little bit more open, and I thought we exposed that well.

“We switched the ball across really well, but we probably could’ve done that a little bit quicker, and I don’t think we took advantage of the 2v1s we had on the flanks well enough.

“At the same time, we still end up with 38 touches in their box, 24 crosses, so we’re getting in the right positions, and there are plenty of bodies in there, but I just felt we lacked that killer instinct.

“It felt like we were waiting for the ball to drop for us in those areas rather than searching for it, but we need to have some variety in how we attack teams because we can’t expect to be able to his everyone on the counter.”

Having gone unbeaten in their opening six league outings, there can not be much complaint about the start Huddersfield have made this term, but in their three draws thus far, they have lacked that added dimension to their attacking play to break teams down.

Being the side expected to go on the front foot in most games at this level brings the added challenge of getting past low blocks, as was expected from Mansfield at the weekend, after losing a man, so Drury knows his team need to adapt.

He explained: “We will have teams drop off as they did at times across the season, and we have to find ways to break them down. Although we did get crosses in the box, I don’t think they were in the right positions for others to attack them, and we could’ve improved those positions with an extra pass.

“We still had some individuality where people got into scoring positions, but we still lacked that quality at the end of it, which is frustrating because it is not like us. It’s going to happen, so we have to move on quickly, assess it and push the standards in training.”

Despite drawing a blank as a team on Saturday, Drury still had room for praise regarding the performances of Cameron Humphreys and substitute Archie Collins, who replaced the injured Ryan Ledson in the first half. The issue lies in converting on the pressure they create.

“I thought Cam and Archie Collins had a really nice balance together,” added the Terriers boss. “It was disappointing to lose Ryan, and hopefully he won’t be out for too long, but full credit to Archie, who came on.

“I thought Cam was a class above again, in my opinion, but we needed to finish off those moves that he was integral in, same with Archie with his runs into the box, crossing and finding some nice passes around it, but we just weren’t quite there.”