Cowley backed into corner by set-piece issue
closest to scoring, Grabara touching away a curling effort from Wallace, even though referee Jeremy Simpson awarded a goal kick.
Town took the lead on 24 minutes with a terrific first goal for his hometown club for Campbell, steering the ball home after fine build-up work down the left from Grant, who smartly pulled the ball back for his front-line colleague.
There was a long delay for the restart while Mah lon Romeo was treated for a head injury, but Town wasted no time in threatening a second goal as Kachunga’s header from Chalobah’s cross brought another save from Bialkowski.
Town turned it up another notch with a cracking break down the left from Lewis O’Brien and Campbell made up fantastic ground to meet the cross and send a powerful header just over the bar. It was much more encouraging for Town and their fans in the first half hour.
Unfortunately, Millwall drew level on 41 minutes.
Grabara first made a fantastic one-handed save to keep out a rasping drive from Ryan Leonard but, from the resulting corner, he mishandled the ball at the back post and presented Smith with a simple equaliser. It was a disappointing end to the half, and Town’s fans tried to rally their side at the start of the second.
Eleven minutes in, Cowley decided to make a change, sending on Diakhaby for Kachunga.
Town pressed forward with increasing menace and there
Town took the lead with a terrific first goal for his hometown club for Campbell, steering the ball home after
fine build-up were loud appeals for a penalty when Grant went down under challenge from Shaun Williams, but referee Simpson was unimpressed. Millwall sent on Tom Bradshaw for Aiden O’Brien and, in the very next moment, Town had even louder appeals for a penalty waved away when Diakhaby, on a sparkling run, was sent tumbling in the box.
Cowley made another change with 67 minutes gone, taking off the battling O’Brien and sending on Juninho Bacuna, who tested the keeper with a low left-foot shot on his first foray towards the Millwall box.
There was drama 11 minutes from time as Ferguson –booked for an earlier foul on Diakhaby – repeated the dose a yard outside the box and was red-carded for his troubles.
Diakhaby curled a cracking effort inches wide from the resulting free-kick.
Millwall sent on Ben Thompson for Connor Mahoney five minutes from time, after exTown man Murray Wallace had replaced Smith. HUDDERSFIELD Town boss Danny Cowley says the club and supporters need strength to move on and he’s doing everything he can to provide it.
The new boss earned his first point in the hot seat with a 1-1 draw against Millwall in which Fraizer Campbell provided a lead before Matt Smith equalised before half-time.
And Cowley used a question about why leading scorer Karlan Grant is taking corners to illustrate how he plans to piece together Town’s climb from near the foot of the Championship table.
Grant has five goals this season but, when it comes to corners, he is the player taking them rather than trying to get on the end of them. So why? “Well, for a multitude of reasons but Karlan strikes the cleanest ball and we don’t have a natural set-piece taker in the group without Alex Pritchard,” explained Cowley, who handed a debut to free-agent signing Danny Simpson at right-back and played Jaden Brown for the injured Terence Kongolo at left-back.
“I believe Alex Pritchard would be able to take corners for us if he was fit, and we are hoping he will be fit very, very soon.
“If you look at the rest of the group there is no natural set-piece taker available to us.
“What we did notice, with Millwall, was that when you have a short corner they come out with just one, and we were looking to work a two versus one and get Karlan coming in and taking a shot. We thought that was a routine we could work with the way Millwall defend.
“It’s not ideal (having Grant taking corners), that’s the truth. But we are trying to find the best way of working with what we’ve got.”
Cowley expanded on his thoughts and added: “There are lots of things that are not ideal and I could moan and groan about what’s gone on before.
“But that would be really weak of me. This club and these supporters don’t need weakness from me, they need strength.
“They need us not to look back but to look forward - and we are trying to find the best way with what we’ve got.”
Returning to the corners situation, Cowley said: “We are working on the training pitch and if we can get Pritch back then he definitely has the quality and ball strike to affect those moments. “And if you haven’t got the delivery then you haven’t got a corner.
“Karlan can be in the box, but if you don’t have the quality of delivery then there is nothing for him to get on the end of.
“We have a number of routines which have been successful for us (over the years), but it’s always about the quality of the delivery, the timing of the run and then the bravery of players to put their head in where it hurts.
“If something moves to get those three in the meantime, then obviously we will do it.”
Grant strikes the cleanest ball and we don’t have a natural
set-piece taker without Pritchard