Cowley’s proud side didn’t ‘go under’ at Leeds
DANNY COWLEY believes recent Town sides would have gone under after conceding such an early goal at Leeds.
The Terriers were 1-0 down after just three minutes at Elland Road.
And although the home side were in charge for most of the game, Cowley was proud at how his young side continue to fight right to the end of the 2-0 defeat.
“I was proud that the players went to the end,” he said.
“I think recent Huddersfield Town teams might have gone under and we didn’t, we stayed in it.
“I think we got 12 turnovers in their half in the first half – you have to come to Leeds and commit.
“I’ve seen so many teams come to Leeds and just wait for Leeds to get the game on their terms and just react to what they do and I don’t think you can do that.
“I think you have to go and commit to something and we wanted to do that.
“We pressed high from the front, we tried to (and certainly did in the early part of the game) get some joy from that.
“The 12 turnovers we got, if that had been at 0-0 it might have unsettled them a little bit more, but because they’d got the goal they had in such an early part, it was a lovely way into the game for them and gave them a confidence on the pitch and in the stadium as a consequence of that early goal.”
And the Town boss is adamant that his side should have had a penalty when Richard Stearman was upended in the box in injury time. He said: “We should definitely have had a penalty, 100 per cent.
“I don’t want to hide behind that and I don’t want to take anything away from Leeds to be honest because I love football and when you see a team, even your opponent, play really well you should always celebrate that, as painful as that is, but I think you should.
“But we should definitely have had a penalty.
“[The referee] is five metres away and Ayling was on a booking and there’s five minutes left and they could have been down to 10 men.
I’m not sure we’d have deserved it, but I’d have taken it.”
Meanwhile, defender Harry Toffolo was quick to praise Leeds for their superb display, labelling them as ‘the best team in the league’ after a dominant performance.
Toffolo said: “I thought Leeds were exceptional, the movement of the players was the best I’ve come across in the league so far and what I’ve seen.
“You have to hold your hand up to good play and a great finish for the first goal. When you concede that early in a derby game, especially away from home, it always makes things difficult.
“We can take a lot of learning today, they’re a top side and, in my opinion, the best in the league. We can take a lot of learning from that.
“That was the most suffocated a team has made us and that’s why they’re up there. It’s a fair reflection of the league, they deserve to be up there.
“They have a fantastic manager and the players they had out there were top class.”