Huddersfield Daily Examiner

Time to end a torrid record for Terriers...

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HUDDERSFIE­LD Town face a ‘scary’ in-form duo of players when they visit Wolves a week on Sunday.

That’s the verdict of Molineux legend Steve Bull, who has picked out Helder Costa and Adama Traore as the big dangers to David Wagner’s side on their return to Premier League action.

Bull, now 53 and the scorer of a club record 306 goals for Wolves, believes the duo are in simply scintillat­ing form at top level.

And in an exclusive interview with the Express & Star about his former club’s start to the season, Bull described Costa and Traore as ‘frightenin­g, unbelievab­le and scary’ as the Black Country club’s next assignment looms against Town.

Bull said: “On the break we’re absolutely frightenin­g with the pace we have and Helder Costa epitomises that - he’s got all the attributes you need and his work rate is unbelievab­le too.

“It’s the same with Adama Traore, who by the way is, I think, the quickest player I’ve ever seen.

“I thought Steve Froggatt and Tony Daley were quick – Traore is scary to be honest. With that pace he’s a good option up front off the bench too.”

Wolves are 11th in the table with 16 points as they prepare to host Town for the first time since April 2017 in the Championsh­ip, a game in which the Terriers won, with Izzy Brown scoring the only goal in a 1-0 win at Molineux.

Wolves haven’t won any of their last four Premier League matches, losing three and drawing one. AS David Wagner continues to put his Huddersfie­ld Town squad through their paces in the Marbella training camp, there’s one record he’ll be keen to put right.

Town will emerge from this internatio­nal ENGLAND Under-21s boss Aidy Boothroyd will speak to Gareth Southgate about which senior stars he can take to Euro 2019 - but not until next year.

Ruben Loftus-Cheek, James Maddison, Ben Chilwell, Mason Mount and Jadon Sancho are all eligible for the Under-21s but have break with a tough away trip to 11th-placed Wolverhamp­ton Wanderers in the Premier League.

Wagner knows Wolves, managed by Portuguese Nuno Espirito Santo, are looking to get back on track themselves after three defeats and a draw in their last four Premier League, outings since their October win at Crystal Palace. He also knows, however, that Town have an internatio­nal break hoodoo to shatter as they travel down to Molineux.

Town’s record shows that after the last 14 internatio­nal breaks, they have managed to record just ONE victory.

This covers the last three full seasons and that single win came at Leeds United in the 2016-17 Championsh­ip promotion campaign.

Town lost to both Crystal Palace and Liverpool after the earlier internatio­nal breaks this season.

In 2015-16, David Wagner’s first official match in charge came after the November internatio­nal break, when Town were beaten 3-1 at Sheffield Wednesday, despite leading until 12 minutes from time thanks to a goal from Sean Scannell.

Before that, however, Town under Chris Powell had lost 2-0 at Cardiff City following the September break, and drawn 0-0 at Ipswich after the October shut-down. In the March into April break of that season, Town again lost to Sheffield Wednesday, this time at home to a Fernando Forestieri strike. The following season, of course, Wagner and his squad achieved glory with promotion through the play-offs, but those three points at Elland Road were the only ones gathered after an internatio­nal break. Aaron Mooy’s goal was enough to win the derby 1-0 in the September break, but October, November and March all featured defeats. Sheffield Wednesday won at the John Smith’s Stadium in October (Forestieri again), while Town went down 3-2 at Cardiff in November, with goals from Tommy Smith and Philip Billing not enough. Then, in the March break, Town returned to action with a 1-0 home defeat to Burton Albion, in which Mooy’s Australia teammate Jackson Irvine got the only goal. In the Premier League last season

Wagner knows Town have an internatio­nal break hoodoo to shatter at Molineux

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