Liam Manning makes ‘we rushed him back’ admission with Huddersfield Town injury latest

Ryan Hardie is “ahead of schedule” with his recovery

Huddersfield Town boss Liam Manning says that Ryan Hardie is “ahead of schedule” with his recovery after making his first start for the club at Wigan Athletic on Saturday.

The deadline-day loan signing from Wrexham was named in Town’s starting 11 for Saturday’s 1-0 defeat at the Brick Community Stadium, where Jensen Weir’s 61st-minute strike separated the sides.

Hardie was substituted three minutes before the only goal in his third appearance for Town, with the forward having featured from the bench against Doncaster Rovers and Barnsley, netting the winner in the latter contest.

The striker has been working his way back from a knee injury suffered with his parent club, and reflecting on the loanee’s performance at the weekend, Manning told BBC Radio Leeds: “He showed some moments.

“I’ve been quite honest with you, we’ve rushed him back, we’re trying to get him back up to speed. I think there was a little bit of rustiness in there today, but he also showed some of the moments of quality which is why we were so keen to have him here, and obviously what we saw last weekend with him coming on.

“He’s ahead of schedule, and we’ve taken an element of a calculated risk to get him back in the team quickly, and as disappointing as today is, it’ll be good for him, in terms of getting more minutes in his legs, and in the run in he’ll be key.”

On managing the forward’s fitness, the Terriers’ boss added: “I think it’s keeping eyes on him. We obviously talk to him in the training week, and look at his training programme, what he needs.

“In game, of course we always knew he was going to be a relatively early change, just because of what he’s done in the last few months, but there’s also your eyes I think, in terms of what you see and feel as well.”