Wagner hails Phil’s fighting spirit in win

HUDDERSFIELD Town boss David Wagner has sung the praises of midfielder Philip Billing after the Dane’s superb performance against Wolves on Sunday.

The 22-year-old helped Town to a 2-0 win over their newly-promoted rivals in the Black Country, with midfield partner Aaron Mooy netting both goals in an almost perfect away performance in the Premier League.

Billing too, along with third central midfielder Jonathan Hogg, was exceptional against Nuno Espirito Santo’s men and kept Town ahead with a remarkable clearance in the second half.

Only 1.8cm of the ball remained on the line as the Denmark Under-21 international hooked Raul Jimenez’s headed effort away from danger, with Wagner hailing the clearance as ‘important as a goal.’

The boss went on to acknowledge Billing’s development in his time in West Yorkshire, before suggesting the academy product has all the attributes of ‘very, very good player.’

“I think Phil, like the whole team, has played so far a very, very decent season,” said Wagner.

“He has performed consistently on the same level he showed [against Wolves].

“He had this one great situation with his clearance, which was at least as important as a goal.

“How he received the ball and his decision-making was great and he is a man now. He is mature. That is exactly what he needed to be.

“I have been with him for more than three years now and I am very, very happy for him that he has got this little bit of fighting spirit in his game, which we always missed.

“He has the technique and the vision, he is 6’6”, has a throw-in, an unbelievable shot.

“He has everything, but we always missed a little bit of this fighting gene that he has now got.

“Now he has this he is a very, very big talent.

“Or more than this not only is he a talent, but a very, very good player.”

Meanwhile, Wolves captain Conor Coady admitted his side did not deal with Town well at the weekend.

Coady, who joined Wolves from Town in 2015, said he felt ‘horrific’ after the defeat.

The 25-year-old said: “When you get beat it is the worst feeling in football, it is horrific. It doesn’t matter who you are playing against in this division, every team is good and have a way of playing and we have not dealt with that well. “We are all quite happy our next game is coming sooner rather than later. “We all know what Cardiff are like and what sort of game that is going to be. “So we have to make sure we go again this week and are prepared for a big game Friday.” Wolves have taken just one Premier League point from their last possible 15 after the Town defeat, but Coady is adamant his side will return to the form they showed earlier in the season, when they drew with the likes of Manchester City and Manchester United. He said: “We have not become a bad team overnight after one bad performance. “We are not happy how we have

He has everything, but we always missed a little bit of this fighting gene that he now has

with performed.

“It is up to us to be ready for games and we weren’t but everyone of the players takes responsibility for it.”