According to Martin Paterson, the assistant head coach of Huddersfield Town, the League One division this year is “one of the hardest” that he has seen at this level in a lot of years.
At the end of the previous season, the Terriers were relegated to the third division together with Rotherham United and Birmingham City. The four teams promoted to League One were Stockport County, Wrexham, Mansfield Town, and Crawley Town.
Wrexham and Stockport, who currently hold the automatic promotion slots, have had a great start to the season. Town is currently ranked fifth, and Birmingham City is in third place.
Although Paterson thinks the newcomers have made the division more difficult than it was, he still thinks his team is in a strong position to compete in it.
Paterson remarked, “It looks like a mirror, maybe a little bit harder, of when I was at Barnsley with Michael (Duff) as an assistant.”
With Sheffield Wednesday and Ipswich in the league, it was a difficult one. I think this year’s League One is the hardest I’ve seen in a long, long time because of the teams that have risen and the teams who have fallen.
The good news is that everyone usually seems to focus on what they need when it comes to the Huddersfield Town team; yet, we have a genuinely strong collection of players.
We’re in a good spot because I know the manager is good. Although the league is difficult, I believe we have the assurance that, with these guys under our leadership and with hard work, we will succeed.
The Terriers defeated Stevenage, Shrewsbury Town, and Peterborough United to earn nine points from their first four games of the season. However, last weekend saw them lose in the league for the first time this year against another demoted team, Rotherham.
Nevertheless, Town has now dropped its last three games in all competitions as a result of cup losses to Walsall and Doncaster Rovers. Due to the international break, Town is not playing this weekend. However, Paterson maintains that the coaching staff will not be lightening the players’ load.
The deputy head coach remarked, “I think it’s a fantastic opportunity to really push the players physically.” “Everyone [sees] the international break and assumes Dubai is pending, which isn’t possible, in my opinion. The season is still too early. In fact, we have a strategy in place where the players will work hard from now till maybe having a weekend day off.
Paterson mentioned that a player who has been out since the beginning of the season due to a groin injury is Bojan Radulovic, who has been training hard to get back fit.
Regarding the forward’s setback, Paterson gave an update, saying, “He’s progressing well.” It has taken him some time to move past a particular problem.
We’re waiting for him to return; he’s working three sessions to attempt to go back out on the grass. We’re only waiting for him to enter the last phase of his rehabilitation so that he can rejoin the group, as I believe he’s back on the grass with the ball.
“Looking at our four strikers, I believe each one of them has a role to perform. The manager, Michael, has high expectations for the number nines: they must perform well under pressure, support the team defensively, and then attack strategically to open up lanes.
He substitutes players early because he expects too much from the nines. In the past, the gaffer has always done that due to the high energy of his style. He’s going to be an important part of what we do.”
