Lee Grant on what pleased him in Huddersfield Town’s defeat and what’s next

Town were beaten by Stockport County last time out

Huddersfield Town boss Lee Grant has called on his side to “stick together and work” as they have a break from their league schedule over the next week.

The Terriers are without a fixture in League One this weekend, with their clash at Luton Town having been postponed owing to international call-ups for the hosts.

Instead, Town now have a spell on the training ground, with Grant’s side next in action at home to Bolton Wanderers next Thursday.

Town head into the break off the back of a 2-1 defeat at home to Stockport County at the weekend, and outlining the plan for the gap in their schedule, Grant told HTTV following Saturday’s loss: “Work, if I’m being really frank. I feel like there is for me some things that we have to work really hard on to put right.

“We’ve got to start executing when we find our moments. We’ve found moments again today and not been able to take them, and that’s disappointing, because in a game where we are below par in my opinion, still having those opportunities and moments that we create gives you an opportunity to get back in, and find a way back into the game, and we didn’t take those moments.

“I’m pleased for Bojan (Radulovic), he gets his goal, he’s trained well and he’s working hard, and that’s why he comes off the bench and earns his right there, but we have to be better. Really the focus now is stick together and work.”

Grant is also welcoming the chance to get a couple of injured players back available for the Bolton clash, with the likes of Mickel Miller and Antony Evans closing in on their return.

“We’ve brought in and put together a squad that can really challenge this year, and we have a real good chunk of it not available to us,” the manager said.

“Having the time now between this and the next fixture perhaps gives us that opportunity to recover one or two of those bodies back into the group, and allow us to fill a squad and a bench with senior players. Of course today, we’re having to supplement the bench with a couple of our young ones, who have really helped us.

“The disappointing thing for us as a group is if we have an opportunity tomorrow to put this right, I’m sure all of us would want to take it – I certainly would, and I know the players and characters within there that they would want the same. That’s tough to take, because now we have to take it on the chin, and put the work in to make sure that we’re in a better place next time around.”

Owing to Saturday’s postponement, the Terriers have just three matches this month, and reflecting on the quieter game schedule at a press conference last week, Grant said: “I must say, I do love spending that time on the training ground with the players. I also love having opportunities to win games, so it’s that double-edged sword isn’t it.

“I also think the group are probably in the same boat, that there’s one or two that feel like we’ve had a heavy workload, and it’s been full on since the start of the season, but at the same time, I think the lads enjoy playing games.

“The messaging to me in the last international break was ‘if this comes down to our decision gaffer, we want to play, we just want to keep rolling and keep going’, and I was the same, and I reckon if I ask the group, they’d probably say the same this week, in terms of the Luton fixture.

“It is what it is, you have to cope with it and manage it, and it does present us with an opportunity to work on things we want to work on, spend the time together and look at things that we just wouldn’t have the opportunity to look at, so we’ll make use of the time.”