We Are Terriers

Below are selected highlights from Wednesday afternoon’s press conference. You can find the full audio above or in your We Are Terriers podcast feed, including Antony Evans’ contribution.Adam Pope (BBC Radio Leeds): After his illness, is Alfie May fit to play at the weekend?Alfie is fit, he’s trained all week, so that’s good news. He’s trained well. We’ve pushed the lads the past couple of days so it’s been a good few days to see the lads on the grass working hard. AP: What’s Lynden Gooch’s situation?Yeah, we’re starting to integrate now. The weekend will be too early for him, but he’s definitely moving in the right direction.AP: Anybody else fit for action or not fit for action that you can tell us about?[Radinio Balker] is unfortunately going to be probably best the part of four weeks with an adductor injury. It’s disappointing. I think he’d obviously put a run of games together and was performing well, so it’s disappointing to lose him, but it’s part and parcel, unfortunately, of the programme that we run and the schedule and the game. So yeah, disappointed to lose him, but it means obviously someone else needs to step up. AP: The chairman issued last night a big rallying cry on his social media to the supporters, basically saying ‘get down and support us’ in a nutshell — how do you feel about that when you hear the chairman do that?I think start with the chairman’s agenda, and I think what can never be questioned is the support, the backing, his intention for the club. I think he’s desperate to be successful here, the same as we all are.I think we’ve all got the same goal, and I think sometimes you get bumps along the way and different challenges. I think we all want to achieve the same thing, and any club that, for me, has any level of success is when everybody’s pulling in the same direction.So again, I think going to the final stage of the season with ten to go, it’s definitely that: let’s all leave everything out there. And again, I think that for me, when I look at the teams, that have done it in the past, it’s when you’ve got that unity and that force from all angles, whether it be from the stands, whether it be on the pitch, whether it be from the senior leaders at the club, the owner…it’s that collective.We all want to do well, trust me, we all want to go out and perform to the highest level and play to our best, and produce a style that entertains the fans as well as winning and getting points as well. We want to try and tick everything, which is challenging at times, it’s difficult, especially when you’ve had transition and change, etc.But for me, I think we’re in a position where we’ve still got so much to play for, so let’s leave it all out there and let’s make sure that in the final ten that we give absolutely everything.Steven Chicken (We Are Terriers): I think a lot of the fans’ objection on Saturday was a bit of a feeling that there was a lack of endeavour from the team. We spoke on Saturday about being man marked out of the game, there weren’t a lot of options all the time — but I think it made the fans feel the intentions of the team weren’t clear. Is that something you’ve worked on this week when it comes to the on the ball work?Yeah, definitely. I watch every game back once, sometimes twice, I'm terribly obsessive, and I totally get it.I think there’s little moments in the game where we definitely [struggle]. That’s the challenge of when you’ve had such a short period and you’re trying to evolve. The team when we came here had scored loads of goals and conceded loads of goals, so you might want to make it a bit harder to beat. You lose some of the goal scorers, you can only concentrate your efforts in certain areas, and personally, I think we’ve got better defensively across the games that we’ve been here.Some of the expense of that is probably some of the attacking stuff. I watched us at the weekend, and at moments we turned down opportunities to go forward, definitely. They’re the bits [we need to work on], I think, and then it’s tough sometimes.It’s never through a lack of intent or will or wanting to do well. It’s the challenge that you have, and that’s why with the coaching behind it, it’s so important to show them pictures and say ‘right, why have we gone square or back there when we could play forward? Why have we thrown it back when we could go forward? Why have we gone square when we could cross it in the box?’It’s affecting the bravery and the risk taking, and naturally I think sometimes when there’s an edge, there’s an uneasiness to it, in every walk of life, it’s not easy to be brave, and there’s an element of pressure, and you feel that little bit.So for me, it’s very much giving the lads the confidence to go and do that, go and take risks and be brave, and if it doesn’t come off, then correct it by responding in the right way — positive body language, working hard, all the bits that I bang on about I think in most interviews. [If we’re going to get it wrong then] let’s get it wrong by taking the risk of being brave and not by shying away from it. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.weareterriers.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.weareterriers.comIt was hard to go away from Huddersfield Town’s 1-0 win over Rotherham United without three main takeaways: 1) it was really boring, 2) the Terriers were very lucky to get the win, and 3) a better side than relegation strugglers Rotherham would have won that game.Yes, there’s a defensive improvement, their home results have been strong (even if the perf…

Below are selected highlights from Wednesday afternoon’s press conference. You can find the full audio above or in your We Are Terriers podcast feed, including Murray Wallace’s contribution.Results elsewhere last night didn’t go for you, so you have slipped down to seventh place. Does that change anything now that you’re chasing and not being hunted down?Look, I think I was fully aware when I came in the position the club were in. You’re at the stage of season where teams are catching up their games in hand, so I think when we joined, we could have been 13th if they’d all the game in hand around us. I thought the start we had gave us a bit of consolidation, but we’ve not done well enough on the road recently, which we’re quite honest about. So for me, I can’t focus too much attention on that. We have to make sure that we pick up points, and that starts on Saturday. We’ve been unbeaten here since we’ve come in, the lads have been great, the fans have been great here, we’ve made it a tough place to come. Especially going into the run-in, we’re going to need to continue doing that and beyond it. And then, of course, on the road, we have to address that and make sure that we pick up wins away.Personnel wise, we haven’t seen Bobby Wales for a while. Is there a reason behind that? Is it tactical? Is it fitness?Just competition at the minute, and to be fair he’s trained much better this week in terms of he’s shown some really good attributes. We’ve obviously had Alfie back around it, Hardie coming back, so we’ve got competition in the squad. And to be fair to Bobby, my job is obviously to manage that, to communicate with the lads, to explain why, to support them and have the staff around to support them to do what they need to. Then it’s about raising your level, and when you look at, say, the performance last week, it gives the opportunity for other people potentially, so that everybody needs to know they’re under pressure to deliver the second the game starts.Usual question on Bojan Radulovic — is he still on track to come back as scheduled?Yes. The good news is he’s been out= doing really low-key stuff. He’s still a few weeks away, but he’s definitely heading the right direction.It was the the challenge of January in terms, when you look at what the team lost, from the goal perspective, so to have someone like him back will be massive, but we want to get him back, and keep him back, of course.I think you’ve seen with Ryan Hardie that we will take risk. We’re at that stage of the season where we’ve got so much to play for that we’ve thrown him in arguabl a couple of weeks ahead of where he should be, so we’ve had to be a little bit smart with how we’ve managed him.It will be similar with Bojan: we’ll see how he goes and see what risks we can take. Naturally, I tend to push to get him back as quick as I can, because obviously he was someone who was big part why I joined and someone I was really looking forward to working with, and someone that obviously has had such a strong season at the level. So yeah, we want to get him back as soon as we can. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.weareterriers.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.weareterriers.comHuddersfield Town’s problems away from home continued as they fell to a thoroughly uninspiring 1-0 defeat away to Wigan Athletic.That has put the We Are Terriers podcast in the mood to dole out a paddling to a side that let the game get away from them as they ended up more worried about what a bottom-half side might do to them than they were about creat…

Below are selected highlights from Wednesday afternoon’s press conference. You can find the full audio above or in your We Are Terriers podcast feed, including Lee Nicholls’ contribution.Liam ManningCan we start with just a quick reflection on Saturday, everyone who was involved, did they come through all OK, you happy with where the squad’s at? Yeah, I’m happy where the squad’s at, definitely. I’m trying to think now, Saturday feels like a long time ago because we’ve had training time, which is rare!The group’s in a good spot. I think it was a strong performance and a strong result at the weekend, which was much needed, and I’m really pleased for the lads in terms of how they went about the game and had to respond from being a goal behind to win. That’s obviously a new experience for the group since I’ve been here, but I think it’s something that hadn’t been done a huge number of times this season.That’s definitely something that will stand us in good stead in the final games going into it, and that belief that we can do it and we know how to do it, you know, I think was a real big positive.How’s Mickel Miller doing?He’s back in training now. After Stevenage, he’d rolled his ankle and it swelled up quite a bit, but it’s settled, he’s training, and he seems in a much better spot.You’re away from home this weekend, and Town have only won five on the road this season. How do you go about replicating those performances that we’ve seen at home, on the road, and find a bit more consistency?They’re different challenges, right? Stevenage is a really good example, when you look at the setup, the pitch…there’s so many other factors which are a part of it.It’s more in terms of understanding, like at Peterborough, how do we impose ourselves on the game? So home or away, it’s that same feeling. The home form has to underpin everything, but then on the road, of course, it’s a case of, how do we go and impose ourselves on Wigan at the weekend? How do we go and find a way to win? Ultimately, that’s the challenge.Joe Taylor is in a real purple patch of form. Is there any part of you, Liam, and I know you can’t control it specifically. You’re a little bit envious that he’s over at Wigan at the moment!Yeah, of course, he’s scoring goals, right?I spoke to Joe on the phone a few weeks ago. I thought it was really important for him to know that I was going to track him, keep an eye on him, I picked up the phone and spoke with him, and said ‘look, go and show what you can do, go and perform’.So yeah, I’m really pleased for him, first and foremost, to go out and to do what he’s done. For us, there is a frustration that we haven’t got him, but there’s an element of positive side where he’s doing well, but know he’s ours for the future still.For any front player, when they’re scoring goals, they’re at their most confident. It’ll be great for Joe, and I’m obviously pleased he can’t play at the weekend, but beyond that I hope he does well for him personally but also for us when he comes back in the summer. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.weareterriers.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.weareterriers.comHuddersfield Town put in a miserably listless performance in defeat to Doncaster on Tuesday night, but brought their winless run to an end with a comeback victory over Barnsley on Saturday afternoon.Does Ryan Hardie offer hope Town can now get back on track? Should Cameron Ashia be starting games? And what shape is best for the Terriers in the coming we…

Below are selected highlights from Monday afternoon’s press conference. You can find the full audio above or in your We Are Terriers podcast feed, including Cameron Humphreys’ contribution.Liam ManningWe’ll start with team news, unfortunately, and ask for an update on Marcus McGuane after he came off on Saturday?Yeah, there’s a slight strain, but it’s looking at probably two to three weeks, which is good news, to be fair — naturally, when you go off that early and looking how he did, you worry. But fortunately it’s only a slight strain.You’ve got a couple of options, I know Antony Evans was involved on the bench and came on against Doncaster in the Trophy — is he getting closer to being involved in the league?Yeah, very much so. He’s in a good spot. He’s definitely one that is close to being in contention, so it’s good to have him back. I think he’s shown some real quality in training, and he’s only going to continue to improve the more work we get into him.Everyone else who was involved down at Stevenage all come through OK?Yeah, [Mickel Miller] is the other one — he’s rolled his ankle. He was limping around a bit, I think, it was quite clear from the sidelines, so he’s struggling a bit with that. But apart from, apart from that, no other major issues. How do you reflect on Saturday, then, a few days on?It’s a tough one to break it down. I think even watching it back, it such a hard place to go, but I think what you have to do is make the game look how you want. If you try and play them at their game, they’re used to doing it and will come out on top, which is probably what happened second half.I thought first half, the first 10 minutes were under a little bit of pressure, but then I thought we did a really good job, especially last 15 minutes of the first half, of wrestling control back and playing in their half. There’s some decent half-chances, some corners, some territory, playing around their box, rather than our half. But in the second half we never really got going in terms of imposing our style on the game. We tried to play them at theirs, and like you see, we ended up coming out second best at that.But even then, it’s probably more the frustration, the manner of the goal, I think, feels like it was an us rather than [Stevenage]. We were five minutes away from taking a hard=earned point, albeit with a difficult performance in a difficult setting against a difficult team. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.weareterriers.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.weareterriers.comHuddersfield Town had a week to forget as they crashed out of the Vertu Trophy at the quarter-finals and suffered their first defeat of Liam Manning’s tenure, away to Stevenage.What went wrong for the Terriers across the two games? And did the head coach get his setup wrong against Stevenage, or did the players let him down, was it a little of both — an…

Below are selected highlights from Wednesday afternoon’s press conference. You can find the full audio above or in your We Are Terriers podcast feed, including Marcus McGuane’s contribution.Louis Reynolds (BBC Radio Leeds): I know it’s only a few hours on, but we’ll just start with how are you feeling about last night now that you’ve slept on it?Well, or not slept on it, is the case.I went back last night and watched it back.To be fair, naturally, I think you get a real low after the way we lost it on penalties, and how the penalties went, etc, so that obviously doesn’t help the emotion and the feeling.So I always like to go back and watch it analyse and I get the analytical side, but I also get the emotional side, which I think is important. So, yeah, really disappointed. I think when you watch it back — and probably my feeling that I spoke about in here last night was probably quite accurate — I thought we had some really, really good passages and good control, restricted them to one shot on target the whole game [and that was their penalty], and then loads of the ball, but probably not enough conviction or purpose first half.Then second half, they had more of the ball, but all in front of us and in their half of the pitch. For me, we carried a real threat, and their keeper has made three, four excellent saves.We’ve had some other terrific opportunities: the Dion [Charles] one, Alfie [May]’s off a set piece. We’ve had numerous good opportunities.That’s why, when I step back, I think if you play that game ten times over, you don’t finish 1-1 in most of them. I think with the chances we created and the performance, I think you win a lot more. So that’s the bit that we have to take from it. It doesn’t mean that we accept losing, because I don’t like it, but at the same time, another way we look at it is if we continue to perform like that and create the chances we did and restrict them to one shot on target, we’ve got a much greater chance of winning those games again in the future.LR: What have you learned over the last few days about a group of players that is still relatively new to you?I think it’s continuous learning about the team, learning about individuals, learning about the culture. It’s only been three weeks, madly. It feels a lot longer with probably how the games have gone and the stress we’ve all gone through and the toll it’s taken on us.But they’re the bits where you learn a lot about the group. And I think last night’s another one from behind, come back to 1-1, penalties...it’s [learning] how the lads have coped with those situations.It’s constant, and I don’t think you ever go ‘right, I’m finished learning about the group’. We challenge them and we push them and we coach them, and our job is to stretch them and take them outside their comfort zone, and reflect on experiences like we’ve had. It’s a continuous process that never stops. We’re constantly learning about the lads and constantly trying to push them to become better, ultimately.LR: Can I ask you about Cam Ashia — just how impressed have you been since you’ve come to the club with him as a young player? I spoke about Cam, I think it was yesterday…I’ve done a lot of press recently, so forget when it was.But I spoke about Cam in terms of a really exciting, really high potential player. I think the challenge naturally with young players, and having spent many years myself in player development, is knowing what it takes in terms of turning really high potential into consistent performances. He gets you off your seat, he excites me. I like watching it when he gets the ball, because you’re not sure what’s going to happen. He puts fear into defenders and puts them on the back foot, and he can produce moments that we as coaches mustn’t stifle. I think that’s really important. We give scope for creativity and, at the right times and in the right area to pitch, for players to express themselves. I’m big on that.Then around it, there’s non-negotiables that if you want to be a strong team and you want to be relentless with winning games and be successful at the level, you need everybody to contribute.Those are the bits that I think, naturally, sometimes with young players, you need to keep working out and you need to keep doing video work and having conversations. But look, he’s someone that we really like, he’s someone that’s done extremely well in the last two games, and I’m sure he’s going to continue to contribute over the next 15.Steven Chicken (We Are Terriers): Is there a chance Ryan Hardie might be in contention for this weekend?Too early. He’ll be training next week, so it’s a little early for Saturday [against Stevenage or] Tuesday [against Doncaster], but in terms of expecting him back with the group training: back end of next week. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.weareterriers.com/subscribe

Liam ManningKatherine Hannah (BBC Radio Leeds): Just to check on some team news, first of all, for tomorrow, you talked about Sean Roughan and Jack Whatmough getting a bit closer — are they in contention, potentially?For Jack it’s a little bit early. Sean and [Antony] Evans are two that are in contention to be involved in slightly different capacities with where they’re at and what stages and how long they’ve obviously been out on back training. So they’re two that come back into contention.KH: And am I right in thinking still too soon for Ryan Hardie?Too soon, but he was on the grass this morning doing some good work. He’s progressing well, to be fair — it was nice to see him out striking a few balls this morning.KH: Alfie May is not suspended for the Trophy. Do you see this as an opportunity to get him some minutes and keep him ticking over until he’s available for League One again?Yeah, naturally, I think it makes sense, obviously, given the spread of the ban and how that looks. It’s no secret that it’s quite likely he’ll play, to be honest. So yeah, we can keep him in ticking over which, which helps when you’re naturally going to miss a few weeks, to be able to put a good level game in. Obviously, it will definitely benefit him, and obviously keep him in a better spot when he’s able to return. KH: Do you see the Doncaster game then as an opportunity to give minutes to players who’ve not had the opportunity to feature? I think the first thing to probably put out there is that we want to win. I think that whatever team we decide, it will be to win the game. You create a culture, and anything I do, I want to win, whether it be with my seven year old son at home, whether it be a pre-season game, whether it be a league match — for me, that you can’t turn that on and off.So it’s something that we have to have in our culture, where we’re hungry to win, and hungry to step up and progress in this competition. Then it’s picking a team that I think is able to do that. With the depth we’ve got, with the competition, with I think what we’ve seen in the four games we’ve done so far in changing personnel with subs coming on and having an impact…we have got some depth. We’ve got some people that have given me some good headaches during games with the impact they’ve had coming off the bench, or people that have started.So, yes, one of those where we’ll try and find the right blend and balance, and we’re fortunate in that position where we can make some changes and still maintain strength.KH: Will Alves is somebody who’s not had much of an opportunity under your stewardship as yet. What does he need to be doing more of to be pushing for an opportunity back in the first team?I’ve sat with Will and had a chat around this situation.He’s someone I really like. I think he’s been quite unfortunate, if you look at the flow and the context of the games — the first two were red cards, and the profile of player Will is, we’ve obviously gone for a Lasse in midfield because of the defensive qualities when you’re down to 10 men.So he’s definitely been a little bit of a victim of our first four games, in terms of what we’ve needed in-game to see a game out or to get it over the line. He’s trained really well, his attitude has been fantastic, he will get opportunities. He’s someone that, let’s be really clear, I do like, and I think is someone that will have impact between now and the end of the season, and he’s just got to be ready when that opportunity arises.KH: It would be easy to sulk, wouldn’t it, as a young player, you’re desperate to get your opportunity. But from what you’ve said there, that doesn’t sound like how he’s reacted to it at all.Definitely not, and that’s something that we can’t allow in our culture. Nobody, nobody will ever be bigger than the team. For me, we can’t allow that. We won’t have it in terms of disappointments. Disappointment’s OK, because you want people that care [if they’re not playing], but then ultimately, when you then train on a Friday, your job is to get your teammates ready for the Saturday, so you can’t sulk because you’ll be letting the people around you down.We’re only as strong as our weakest link. It’s a bit of a cliche, but very true. So I think it’s really important, and Will epitomises [what we want] in terms of how he’s gone about it: he’s got his head down worked.Cam Ashia, again, you see, obviously comes on [and scores against Blackpool], hadn’t featured in the first three, and things change quickly for him.All the lads can control is being ready, and by not reacting and not training and not doing things in the right way, that gets you further from the team. Trust me, if anyone doesn’t do it properly, they won’t be involved.Mickel MillerKH: The league is set aside for the time being, because it’s Vertu Trophy tomorrow night, and that’s something that you’ve had great previous experience with —you’ve been all the way to Wembley twice with both Rotherham and with Plymouth.Now that we’re at the quarter finals, do you sense a slight shift in emphasis with this competition, where it starts to get a little bit more serious as that possibility of going to Wembley again comes a little bit closer? Oh, definitely. I always said that this, once you start off in this cup and it’s at the group stages, everyone thinks, ‘ah, it’s just the Papa John’s Trophy’, or whatever.But as soon as you get to the quarters and you know you’re like, two games away from Wembley, it all changes. Everything shifts. We’re in it and it’s a great opportunity to go and do something again this season, along with the league. It could turn a good season into a great season, so it’s exciting.KH: You can’t overlook an opportunity to play at Wembley, an opportunity to lift a trophy. There’s not many players that get that opportunity, are there? So you can’t dismiss it.No, 100%. I just think that being a player myself and being around loads of players, you see how many players actually go through their careers and don’t actually win anything, and obviously me actually winning something, I’m so grateful. I see this opportunity that we have as players at Huddersfield, it’s a cracking opportunity to go out there and put our mark down at Huddersfield, and give the fans something, give ourselves something, our families — everyone that’s supporting us and been rooting for us. So like I said, it’s a great opportunity to go and do something.KH: And success breeds success, so progress in this trophy can only be a good thing for feeding into the rest of the league campaign, can’t it?No, exactly that. It’s just about building momentum. So the more we keep winning, the more we do well in the cup, we go and win the cup that this carries on to into the league. So it’s just yeah, it’s about building.SC: You’ve talked about that spirit and how hard it is to come back from adversity…you’ve had significant adversity in all four games under the new gaffer. Does that come from the new gaffer? Is it that replacing Lee [Grant] was that just a bit of a spur for the players? Is it a bit of everything?I think it’s hard to pinpoint. Like, you say ‘is it the change of gaffer’ and stuff like that…I don’t really want to get too much into that, but all I know is that it’s just that anywhere, when new people come in, everyone has to basically prove themselves again.So the new gaffer coming in, he’s great tactically, he gives us loads of information, drives the standards high. I’m not saying Lee didn’t do that, he did that as well, but I just think it’s that other side now that everyone is literally playing for their shirt again, everyone needs to prove themselves to someone again. So it naturally raises everyone’s game.SC: Just going back to that game at the weekend…I don’t want to take any credit at all away from the comeback, because I think maybe a few weeks ago, you don’t get back into that one. But is there a bit of a sense, when you reflect on it, that you shouldn’t have been two goals down? What’s the meetings been like with the gaffer in the days since?I think we look at it from a point of view that it was basically a good thing out of a bad situation. Of course we’re not happy with the point. We’re at home, we’re literally hard to beat at home, and it’s our stomping grounds, so no one should be able to come here and score two goals that they did.But you know, being in that situation, getting a point from no points, that’s how we’re looking at it, and it’s just about sticking out the positives and rather than negatives. We’ve sat down and we’ve gone through the goals and stuff like that, and the gaffer has made it clear. He speaks to us collectively, points out individuals if they need to be pointed out, and we’ve gone over that, and we’ll learn from it and move forward. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.weareterriers.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.weareterriers.comHuddersfield Town rescued a point from two goals down on a day of both positive and negative lessons for head coach Liam Manning to take away.We discuss the changes Manning made, why things didn’t work in the first half, and what changed to help Town get things back on track.Plus, we talk about the new arrivals and departures on transfer deadline day.If…

Below are selected highlights from Wednesday afternoon’s press conference. You can find the full audio above or in your We Are Terriers podcast feed.Jack Conlon (BBC Radio Leeds): I’ll start with the three extra additions on deadline day. I’ll start with Bobby Wales and Ryan Hardie first — just how pleased are you to get those over the line and what are they going to offer?Yeah, delighted with them, but also the business I think that was done in January with the additions that were made. Starting with Bobby, he’s one that we’ve been tracking a little while, to be fair, and done a decent amount of work on, so I had a decent understanding of him. So again, I think he’s a good addition for us.Then obviously Ryan as well, he’s someone that I’ve coached against numerous times, and I know what qualities he brings and how proven he is at the level. Obviously, with Bojan [Radulovic] getting injured, we knew it was an area of pitch that we needed to add to in terms of not just depth, but also quality as well, which I’m delighted we’ve been able to do. JC: On the flip side, Ruben Roosken and Herbie Kane leaving the club — what’s the rationale behind those decisions?I think there are two aspects. I think Herbie, when you look at it, obviously coming back from an injury…I had a good chat with Herbie. I like him, I like some of his qualities, but I was quite straight and honest with him, I think, in terms of game time might be quite tough to come by, just given the volume of players that we’ve got in there. Naturally, when you come in you go with people, and he’s working back to fitness, so there was people ahead of him. So for me, then the decision, do you keep him around for the final third of the season to be part of it, or actually, do we go right, ‘let’s get fit, let’s game some minutes, let’s have a good look at him playing games and and see how he does on that?’ So that was the decision there.And similarly, I think Ruben, when you look at it, he wasn’t making squads with Bali [Mumba] coming in, and [Mickel Miller back again].I think it was a terrific opportunity for the club as well, and that was ultimately the decision that we made in terms of us being really happy with what we’ve got, and at the same time, the deal was really, really good for us.JC: How do you rate the window overall and the squad you’ve been left with, albeit, I appreciate you were only here for half of it?Really pleased, really pleased, with first and foremost, what was here.I came here to work with a group that was here currently, and I’ve been really pleased with how the group we’ve got has responded. Then if you if you go through it and what we’ve managed to add in terms of slight differences in profile and physicality, which I think the group needed.So, yeah, I’ve been really pleased with the window, and the biggest bit is I’m pleased with the squad we’ve now got going into the final three months of the season.Steven Chicken (We Are Terriers): You’ve actually got two centre forwards this weekend, with Bobby in as well [as Dion Charles]. Is it a case for you now weighing up whether you want them both on from the start or you want one from the bench so you can switch them out?I can’t be telling you what I’m thinking before a game!No, of course. We obviously spoke last week around what I felt we needed, and that was obviously an area to pitch that we needed options. That’s why I quite like, if you look at the three that we’ve got, Ryan [Hardie] is obviously back [from injury] soon, but with Ryan, with Bobby, with Dion, I think you’ve got three different types, different profiles, which maybe we can cause the opposition, different problems in different ways.So whether it be one up, whether it be two up, I think we’ve already shown in games that we’re happy to change and we’re not fixed and set on it that it has to be one up top. You want elements of the players to be fluid. So I’m delighted that we’ve got a variety of profiles at that end of the pitch, and it gives me different options and different ways of using them. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.weareterriers.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.weareterriers.comLiam Manning’s winning start to life as Huddersfield Town head coach now stands at three games after victories over Luton and Peterborough, despite he Terriers having to fight back through adversity in both games.This week’s We Are Terriers podcast reflects on both victories, including our thoughts on Alfie May’s red card, Ryan Ledson’s sensational goal…

Below are selected highlights from Wednesday afternoon’s press conference. You can find the full audio above or in your We Are Terriers podcast feed.Liam Manning Adam Pope (BBC Radio Leeds): Alfie May is looking at a four game ban at the moment because of an early red card. Is there any thoughts of the appeal that was mentioned last night.Yeah, we’re going to appeal it, I think only on the grounds that there’s no intent. Speaking with Alfie and when you see it, we’re not questioning whether he pulled Kasey Palmer’s hair, but there was zero intent, it’s completely accidental. If you watch the video back, quite clearly, he’s trying to grab his shoulder and pull him back, which is part of football, the contact that comes with playing the game. But unfortunately, he’s grabbed it, he’s let go of it straight away, and then apologised afterwards, but I think he was put down with violent conduct. It was definitely not that. So for me, we’ve appealed it, and hopefully common sense prevails.AP: You also had an injury to Bojan Radulovic yesterday. How is he?Yeah, he’s a little bit sore this morning, he’ll have scans tomorrow.To know definitively what we’re dealing with, and the time frames on it, and everything that everybody want to know, we can’t really answer it until we know the outcome of that scan this tomorrow morning.AP: If you are to be without those two players at the weekend at Peterborough, have you seen enough to suggest that you can re-fashion the team in a way that can be as effective as it has been so far?I think you probably saw it for 70 minutes last night, right?I think that that’s what we have got. We have got depth. We have got options. We have got different profiles. We have got really high quality amongst the group. People forget it’s a 50-game season. You need the squad.I’m sure previously, other people were injured, and everyone’s asking same questions — ‘you’ve got this one missing’. But what we’ve got is people ready to step in.We trained this morning with the lads that didn’t play last night or weren’t involved, or some of the subs, and the session was top this morning. I thought the attitude, the behaviour, the competitiveness, the work this morning was excellent, and that then means people are ready to step in when called upon. I referenced David Kasumu Last night, someone that wasn’t involved at the weekend, then four days later, it’s on the bench because of how he applied himself in training on Monday. He comes on last night and does exactly what the team needs and puts in a really, really strong performance. That, for me, is the Football League. It can happen so quick when you’ve got so many games and injuries, suspensions, form, people hitting a hot streak…you need to put them in at the right time, the same as when someone’s having a dip, you might need to pull them out. And that’s why it’s it’s not the starting 11 always. It’s very much the depth for the 20-25 that you’ve got. Steven Chicken (We Are Terriers): The nature of the last couple of games you’ve not been able to use someone like Will Alves, who maybe in other circumstances you throw them on. Are you looking forward to getting the chance to play some of those players, if you can keep 11 men on the pitch? Yeah, I had a chat with will about it today, and he was excellent today in training. I thought his quality, as well as his attitude and application, were excellent.So, yeah, I’ve had that chat and it was pretty much what you just said there — you know, I really like some of the bits I’ve seen, be patient, stick at it, keep working hard and be ready when called upon.What I can’t do is tell him when that will be and again, I think that’s the kind of the same message for the whole group: be ready when you called upon, and then it’s on them to give me a headache.That’s what I liked across the last two games, even last night, with the subs coming on. Dion had such good impact and done exactly what we’ve needed in those moments, and that that’s what being a strong team is all about, having people that you know are ready when called upon.Bali MumbaAP: Liam’s managed to get off to a great start: two clean sheets, two wins. Where do you feel, after being with him for eight days now, he can improve you? What do you need to improve yourself?I feel like we’ve already started this morning, in fact. He pulled me in the office, we had a chat, just a general chat, just about life and stuff, how’s things going, and then we went into further details with the game and football and stuff. He’s one of the managers that’s willing to help you with your performance. He says it doesn’t really matter on whether it’s your strengths or your weakness, both of them — he’s willing to help you whether it’s something that you’re really quite good at, to get better at that and really hit a good level with that, or whether something that needs to be improved.He’s willing to do both jobs and help you improve as a player, which is always nice. So yeah, we did speak about that this morning in terms of just obviously positioning when defending and stuff like that, which is quite key. It’s something that we can obviously work on one at a time, and then before we move on to the next thing that we need to improve on. SC: Talking to Ryan Ledson the other day, said he feels like Liam has taken off a little bit under Lee. And do you feel like as an attacking player, he’s giving you that freedom?Yeah, 100%, every game. The last two games, in the team talks that we’ve had, the last thing he always says that sticks with me is he always says, ‘Be fearless’. He tells everyone you know, be fearless. That obviously goes a long way in terms of out of possession, in possession, just be fearless. Be you, express yourself. He’s not one of them that they will judge you by your mistakes or what you do, as long as it’s a positive action. That’s something that as a player, you want to hear — you want to go into the game knowing ‘I can try things, I can take a risk, because obviously the manager obviously wants me to play with that fearless mindset’. This is a public episode. 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Below are selected highlights from Monday afternoon’s press conference. You can find the full audio above or in your We Are Terriers podcast feed.Liam ManningLouis Reynolds (BBC Radio Leeds): You’ve almost set that bar now, haven’t you, for what fans can expect from your side?Yeah, and let’s be clear, I’ve used that with the lads. I think that’s the bit for me, is how do you make those behaviours into habit.It’s like how the FA Cup’s a great competition, and you can raise your game for the odd one, but if you want to achieve anything and sustain success over a period of time and win game after game, you have to make the behaviours that we showed on Saturday habit, and that’s the bit that we’ve spoken to the lads about: the desire to run, the intensity, the duels, the togetherness, the spirit, the emotion, but the control with the emotion. I think that that’s equally important.You saw so much of that on Saturday, and like I said, that’ll be my challenge. The players should be desperate to get out there tomorrow night, to go again, and we have to — win, lose or draw, play well, play poorly — what’s non-negotiable is showing the intent that we showed at the weekend.LR: When you talk about habits and non-negotiables, how difficult or easy is it, from a coaching point of view, to ingrain that into players?I think it depends on the group you work with, but I can’t speak highly enough of the lads since me, Martin and James have come in to work with them, I think they’ve been really receptive to the bits we’ve challenged them with.I think football’s analysed so much nowadays that there’s so much made around rotation and shapes and patterns, and of course, there’s huge parts of those that are important, but what has to always underpin it is the will to win and the desire to work. That’s what the lads have done since day one of us joining, and we have to push them to continually do that — and the second someone steps off it, it’s my job, it’s the staff’s job, but it’s also the [layers’ job to make sure that we hold each other to account, to what we expect in those behaviours. Saturday was a real, good example of what it has to look like.LR: Chatting to some fans after the weekend…there’s 18 games to go, and yes, there is a bit of a gap between yourselves and the top two, but a lot of the consensus was ‘our season starts today’. What is in your mind the next 18 games? What’s the remit? How are you envisaging it unfolding?We want to win as many as we can.Any fan, any player, any staff member should dream big. You have to, I think. No-one wants me to come in here and squash ambition and dreams — you’d be mad to do that. But we also have to understand, how do we do that? And that’s for me, where I chunk it up. 18 games is too far away to get targets and projections. We have to concentrate and get it right tomorrow, otherwise where we’re at in 18 games won’t be where we want it.So like I said, there’s a real skill, and we have to celebrate the wins, we have to enjoy it, the same as we have to hurt after the losses, but you have to bounce back quickly — and that’s everyone associated with the club, and that’s what we have to do.I said to the lads on Saturday, ‘enjoy it, go home, make sure then Sunday, you rest, you recover, and your head’s on Tuesday, then when we’re at the end of the season, look back and make sure we have no regrets on what we did in the 19 games that we had.’Ryan LedsonLouis Reynolds (BBC Radio Leeds): How have you found the first few days working under Liam?Good, positive. I’ve played against his teams for the past two years in the Championship. He and his coaching staff have come in with real energy, real intent, so yeah, positive start so far.LR: And on Saturday, it was the best start possible, wasn’t it? I mean, it was some atmosphere, some performance. Talk us through your reflections of that game. Brilliant. Absolutely loved it from start to finish. I thought the energy in the ground from the fans was top, and we really fed off that.I thought to a man, everyone was on top form, and we sort of we own them one. You look back at the game at their place, for the first half an hour, 35 minutes, we battered them, in all honesty, and that hurt us — it still did. So Saturday was about getting one back over on them, and really putting it to them, and I think we were unlucky not to be three up again at half time — we should have been. So, you know, it felt nice — but it’s just a start.LR: There is, of course, a gap between yourselves and the top two. Is that still a realistic target for you as players?Of course it is. But we’re not focusing on that at the minute, we’re focused on ourselves, focusing on game at a time, performances and points. If we get performances, we know in this league we’ll climb the table. So obviously, the aim is to win as many games as possible, including the cups.LR: What’s the message been from Liam on that front?It’s more positivity, more shackles off, just enjoy it. Like, obviously we’re all good players. It’s more the mental side of it and sort of us forgetting being us. It’s ‘be you, be what you come to the club for’, and that goes for everyone.LR: Did you feel you need Liam to come in to release those shackles?Yeah, listen, sometimes it’s a difficult one. If you can get yourself into a bit of a rut and getting the same messages, maybe just a little freshen up can kickstart people again, and hopefully that will be the case This is a public episode. 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This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.weareterriers.comHuddersfield Town have a real opportunity to kickstart their season properly after claiming an important victory in the West Yorkshire derby over Bradford City.What did Liam Manning do differently to get that performance in a high-pressure game? Who were the key players who could play a big part under the new head coach? How do we expect Town to do from…

Below are selected highlights from Friday afternoon’s press conference with new Huddersfield Town head coach Liam Manning. You can find the full audio above or in your We Are Terriers podcast feed.There will be no weekly digest from us this week as we couldn’t even begin to do a meaningful predicted line-up and we’re not sure you need telling what this weekend’s game is all about.Injury news is that Herbie Kane has been back in training all week while Jack Whatmough and Antony Evans have been integrating back in with the rest of the side. Sean Roughan remains sidelined.We will also have an exclusive interview with Huddersfield Town sporting director Chris Markham for our paying subscribers at teatime today so keep your eyes peeled for that and get signed up if you aren’t already to make sure you get access.What do you make of the squad so far?Yeah, I think you can do all the video work, you can watch games, you can try and get up to speed with things, as we have at the start of this week — But there’s nothing like being on the grass with the lads and getting a real feel for them and physically what they’re like, understanding their connection, their relationship, the culture we’ve got see.I’ve been really pleased with how they applied themselves this week. It’s been a real buzz about the place, naturally, I think when you have a change, but I’ve been really pleased, looking forward to seeing what they can take into the game.Was that part of the attraction of taking the job, because it is a good squad with a lot of talented players who are perhaps underachieving?Anytime, I think it’s the group that you’re going to work with [that appeals]. I think when you look at it, there’s a huge amount of experience at this level, a huge amount of success. I think there’s some really exciting lads that I think can hit levels higher than what they might have shown so far this season.So I think that’ll be my job, to challenge them on that. I think there’s a lot of potential to achieve and still to come. So yeah, that was one of the biggest attractions, was the current playing group, and what I think we can get out of them.What sort of football does a Liam Manning side look like?I spoke about it the other day — because I just spent a few years working with City Group, this perception gets built up around possession, etc.But think if you look at the groups I work with, especially obviously at Bristol City, where we have a decent amount of success, it starts with the behaviours: people that are honest, people that are hard-working, people that show a level of intensity and aggression and a real purpose through all their actions. That doesn’t mean they’re always going to get things right, but I think in terms of a starting point, it’s that.Then after that, for me, it’s how to attack, and there’s different ways to do that. You can be direct, you can go behind, you can go through…it’s finding different ways to attack to hurt the opposition, and all about being hard to beat without the ball winning your duels, winning your battles, and being organised as a group.What’s the priority then: winning, or winning in a certain style?The position I’m in and the learnings I’ve had in the numerous games I’ve done so far, I think the priority is winning, and to be clear I want to win tomorrow, I think I’d take that over the performance.And then, of course, I think if you want to sustain winning, the performance then becomes equally important.So I think you can win the odd game by playing off the cuff or having no real identity, but I think in terms of if you want to consistently win, if you look at teams historically, that have gone on to have success and win over and over again, you have to be clear on what you’re doing, which in football is the biggest challenge.It’s like here, we’ve got some talented individual players so it’s how do you get a group to be aligned on the same page? I think that’s often the challenge in football, so that’s the bits that we’ve been trying to address and work on this week.You’ve talked about how you want to play forward, you want to be brave — would you say that’s a fair assessment of the style of football we can expect?Yeah, I hope so, that’s what I want. That’s what we’ll be pushing the lads to do. Naturally, will they always get it right? No, so again, I think there will be moments where they can play forward and maybe go square or back instead.But my job behind the scenes — and the staff that we have — is to coach them to be brave, to play forward, to ask questions, and naturally in the game, you can’t always do that — but it’s about not playing it square or back when we’ve got that opportunity to go and hurt the opposition.That’s the big bit for me. We want to create, we want to dominate games, but we want to do it in the right areas of the pitch, which is as close to their goal as possible. This is a public episode. 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This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.weareterriers.comWe’ve seen Huddersfield Town in action twice this week, but most analysis of those games has gone out the window on the latest episode of the We Are Terriers podcast following Lee Grant’s dismissal as manager.So how come the manager was never able to get his side performing consistently? Is anything likely to be different under the new boss — whomever t…

Below are selected highlights from Thursday afternoon’s press conference. You can find the full audio above or in your We Are Terriers podcast feed.Lee GrantKatherine Hannah (BBC Radio Leeds): The new arrival announced today, then — Bali Mumba. What can you tell us about him and what he will bring to Huddersfield Town? Firstly, we’re delighted he’s joined us, and I think it’s a really positive signing for the football club, I have to say. He’s a player I’ve liked for a long time, I told Bali this yesterday — it was three or four years ago down at Portman Road, and he cut in from the right and put one in top bins.That sticks in my memory, and he’s been in my radar since that moment, I have to be honest.But he’s a player that can play across several positions, so we’ve seen him ply his trade across the front line for Plymouth, we’ve seen him play his trade at both wing-back positions and full-backs not out of the question for him. And that is obviously a huge tick in the column for us in terms of where he can ply his trade.But the other part of it is his age, and think he’s a really good footballer as well, so we’re excited by that one, and we’re really pleased with how the windows open up so farKH: Will he be available to play this weekend?He will be, because he’s played a lot of minutes, if you look over the festive period, and I think his last 90 minutes was against Burton, in fact. He’s trained with us today, he’s in a good place, so of course, we’ve got to think about the big picture in the context of just being in the building. But yeah, he’ll be in a place where he’ll be available.Steven Chicken (We Are Terriers): I appreciate you may not want to give too much away ahead of potentially his debut, but where do you see Bali fitting into this side? We know that he’s a very versatile player…Yeah, and in all honesty, I would like to keep that up my sleeve and cards close to my chest on that one,Bali can play as a left wing-back, he can play as a right wing-back, he can play as a full-back on either side at a stretch. He can play as a right winger or a left winger. He can play in the pocket on the left side, on the right side, and he can play as a forward off the striker on either side of the pitch.So apart from central midfield, which I’m not sure I’ve seen him play, or with a pair of [goalie] gloves on either, he can probably play in most of the positions.Mine and Bali’s conversation this morning centred around probably keeping those options fewer, rather than keeping the scope hugely wide, just because he’s got a lot to take in at the moment: he’s got new surroundings, new training ground, new teammates, new everything, so we probably don’t want Bali to try to absorb seven different positions worth of information over the next few weeks.But, yeah, we also want to be able to utilise him, as and when, wherever we think he can be effective.KH: You said there you’re pleased with how the squad is shaping up this January window. Can you give us an idea of what the plan is? Where do you want to be by the end of January?Stronger than where we started, and that really is it in a nutshell, Katherine.We feel like we’ve made good strides on that already, and I think the January window for every club is tricky to navigate, sure, but if you can come out of it with a feeling of ‘we feel as though we’ve improved the squad picture’, then that’ll be a huge bonus for everybody. I think we’re taking great strides towards that already, and I’m pleased with what we’ve done, and that has to be the aim.KH: Still more to come, do we expect?Yeah, it’s tough to say. As I said right at the beginning, I think I said we have to be ready to adapt to any situation. We have to be able to assess and understand the needs of all of the players that are in the building.So do I see the picture changing? Probably yes, if I’m being really honest. I think the squad probably will look slightly different than what it looks today, but in reality, that’s by one or two players in either direction.So as I said, we’ve got to be ready to move and adapt and obviously, of course, see how things progress in terms of fitness, availability, injury and form across the next couple of weeks.KH: It’s a nice position to be in that you were getting, clearly, the backing from your owner and chairman. It doesn’t sound like you’ve had to fight too hard for him to open the chequebook?Well, I think if you look at the signings we brought in in the window, of course, we’re always trying to look at things from a business perspective and balance the books, so that’s important.We’ve taken strides to do that in this window as well, as we did in the window before, with [selling] Sorba [Thomas] and with Brodie [Spencer]. So that’s obviously important.But yes, without doubt, having a chairman that is prepared to react when a situation arises, as we’ve seen in Bali’s case — he’s one that will be important for the football club as well, it’s a sound piece of business, and for me personally, of course, it’s a positive without a doubt.KH: Any team news ahead of the weekend?No, nothing significant. Obviously, Alfie had his knock prior to Rotherham, so we’re delighted he came through the game OK and with no adverse reactions post-game either. The injured ones are the injured ones, and Sean [Roughan] and Jack [Whatmough] and Herbie [Kane] are pushing, and [Antony] Evans are all pushing really hard on the training ground and doing what they can. But of course, still a bit to go for most of those.But yeah, other than that, as we were.SC: So all good on Will Alves after his little kick on Tuesday?Yeah, he was sore coming off the pitch, and in some ways it was probably needed in that it was his first real whack on the injury, and to know that you can have that and come through it is obviously a positive sign.So, yeah, no ill effects from that. Obviously, he was recovering with the recovery group today…the lads that played the game on Tuesday are still sort of half-training, half-recovering. But no, he came through OK as well.Radinio BalkerSC: Admittedly, as you say, you’ve conceded some goals you wouldn’t have liked to concede recently. On the whole though, when you look at the xG, when you look at the number of goals conceded, it has been better over the past few weeks since this change of shape. Do you feel like this system suits you as a defence?If you look at the numbers, yes. I think because of the way we play, it’s taken away sometimes a little bit of the attacking. But, I mean, we’ve played the same way on Tuesday [against Rotherham], and it’s looked very attacking as well. So it’s difficult to say, but you would say yes, if you look at the stats, and it feels like that as well.Even against Stockport, we didn’t play well, we were defending a lot, but I feel like we didn’t really give up many chances against them. Yeah, they had some shots, they had some pressure on us, for sure, but I think that security in the back with an extra man saves us those big, big chances that we that other teams create against us. So you could say defensively, it actually works really well, yeah.SC: Speaking to the manager, he seems to think the difference in those games, like Stockport or Bradford, or plenty of other games against the big teams…is it a matter of self-belief, as the manager seems to think? Do you think you and your teammates need to find that extra level in those big games?Well, that speaks for itself. I think if you look at the record we have against the top teams, it doesn’t look good. So you could say maybe we need to show some more balls, because what we have done before hasn’t worked either.So I wouldn’t say it’s self-belief, but I feel like in a game, you have moments where you’re under pressure, and then it’s easy to kick the ball away because you don’t want to concede. And that’s something that you need to — again, the same word I used before — balance. You need to balance it out.Yes, sometimes kick the ball out. Sometimes keep the ball away because you’re in a dangerous area. But sometimes, you need to have the confidence to keep it and play out of that pressure from the other team.So yeah, I can’t really answer the question, I can only speak for myself, and for myself, I don’t think it’s a lack of confidence. It’s just knowing as a team what you need in that moment. I think that’s the best answer I can give. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.weareterriers.com/subscribe

Below are selected highlights from Tuesday afternoon’s press conference. You can find the full audio above or in your We Are Terriers podcast feed.Lee GrantChris Nee (We Are Terriers): Lee, we’ll start, if you don’t mind, with your reflections after Stockport, please.Yeah. So, difficult afternoon, difficult in many senses. Because not only do we not reach our level in terms of really going after the game and being successful in the things that we set out to do, but then having got the game to a stage where we, you know, look as though we’re coming away with a point and a clean sheet, we then, obviously, yeah, turn that into into no reward and zero points from the game. So, yeah, that’s tough to take, of course, but we know internally that we have to be better.And as it stood with the point and the clean sheet on offer, but 90+6 minutes or whatever it was, we still would have been wholly dissatisfied, I think, with how the game went.CN: Do you understand or even share the frustration of the supporters after a game like that?Without a doubt. Intrinsically, we understand it. I understand it. Share it, for sure. We’re living it. So we’re certainly, with regards to our level at the weekend, we’re not satisfied, and we certainly feel as though we’ve we’ve come up short, and I’ve come up short, in terms of the display that we put on show.CN: You’ve brought in a keeper and another keeper has gone in the other direction. Can I ask the thinking behind those two transactions?Pretty straightforward, in all honesty, in that we had to do what was right by Owen [Goodman] and of course, had to take into account Owen’s wishes and Crystal Palace’s wishes in the matter, and all of those things being considered, it was a very straightforward decision for all of us, and we did make that decision mutually, along with Owen and along with Crystal Palace.So, yeah, we came to the decision that that was best for all parties. And then, of course, finding the replacement and doing so in in good time was really important.CN: We saw Cameron [Humphreys] at the weekend. Do you expect to sort of see him in that deeper role more often, or is it a versatile player that you’ve brought in?Very much so, yeah, very much. So we can use Cammy in all of the positions centrally. My belief is that across the across the you know, five months or so that he’s going to be with us, we will get an opportunity to see Cam as a more aggressive central midfielder, as a deeper one, and perhaps at times, as a more attacking outlet for us. So yeah, we know he has that versatility and those attributes to his game, so we want to make sure we use them.CN: It’s clearly a blow to lose a player who was in the kind of form that Leo Castledine was in. Are you looking to bring in a pretty direct replacement for him, or is that somewhere where Will Alves and Zeppy Redmond can step in?Yeah, well, it’s difficult. I think it’s going to be difficult for us to replace Leo, that’s for sure. So Leo worked hard, and we worked really hard with Leo to get him into a position where we felt as though he could contribute significantly. And he was doing that. We found the right slot for him, and he was really consistent with his level.So yeah, that’s a blow that’s tough to take for all of us. We also feel as though we’ve got one or two that are ready to step up. So of course, they have to do that, and we want to help them to do that.So yeah, that’ll be the goal. Of course, if we have an opportunity to find another Leo Castledine, nobody’s going to turn their nose up at that. But as I said, I think that’s going to be very, very difficult.CN: Is the Vertu Trophy game a chance to maybe bring a few of those players back in and give them some minutes?Yeah, quite possibly so. We’ve got one or two now that are pushing hard to be back available and around it. You know, Mickel Miller, Marcus McGuane, Will Alves, people like those guys that we’ve not seen a great deal of recently, and then one or two that, you know would have liked to have had more minutes than perhaps they’ve had more recently, again, will get an opportunity.But as we’ve said before every single game, it’s a really important competition to us. So you know, we’ll pick a side that we feel as though can go out there and get the right result for us.CN: What’s the status of Alfie May at the moment?Yeah, look Alfie, it was disappointing one, I think for all of us concerned. We selected Alfie to play at the weekend. He didn’t feel as though he was able to do that, so yeah, we have to see if he’s if he makes the cup for for Tuesday. My hope is that it settles quickly and we can have him back around it.CN: Do you have a time frame on Sean Roughan as well?Yeah. Sean Roughan, I think we said at the time, initially four to six weeks, that hasn’t changed. So he’s progressing along nicely.Lynden GoochCN: Why do you think the the team falls a bit short against teams around you?I’m not too sure. Obviously, the results are there to see against the top sides. And unfortunately, for whatever reason, we haven’t managed to get those results and performances that we want.But yeah, look, I think if we finish the game 0-0 you go, ‘It’s a good point, we rolled our sleeves up and and dug in,’ which we did. And unfortunately, the last kick the game didn’t go our way. And that’s really disappointing.But like I say, we’ve been on a really good run. It doesn’t need to be doom and gloom. We need to get back to what we’ve done well over the last month or so to get back to those results.CN: One thing that will help that is avoiding conceding late goals. As you say, 0-0 would have been a very respectable outcome on Saturday. Is that down to concentration over the last couple of games?Maybe, yeah, you could put it that way, I think the goal on Saturday was obviously disappointing, and we should have defended it better. We know that. So that’s that’s on us to to see the game out and and obviously against Exeter as well, in the closing stages.So look, we, we are under no illusions how disappointing that is and how disappointing that is as a football club, as the fans would be disappointed, we’re just as much as disappointed.And yeah, look, we want to obviously stop that routine happening and but we can’t whinge about it or get down about it. We have to be grown men and face it and try and do better. CN: What is the mood like at the moment? Obviously, the results were fine for a while and then slightly disappointing on Saturday. But big games coming up, big month coming up, is there confidence and fire in the group?Yeah, of course, look, confidence is still high. We still believe we can beat anyone on our day and and we’re still in a really positive place in in the division, and there’s still a long, long way to go.When I got promoted at Sunderland, we were outside the play-off places at this stage. We fell down quite a bit and managed to get back in and go up through the play-offs. So there’s still so much to play for. It’s not over just because we got beat at the weekend.And look, we we want to go far in the Vertu Trophy as well because winning breeds confidence and and belief, and we want to go far in that tournament as well. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.weareterriers.com/subscribe