We knew this was going down to the wire, says Cowley
DANNY Cowley says Huddersfield Town didn’t turn up for the exam against Wigan Athletic despite doing all the necessary revision.
Well he knows they’ve got another tough examination on the horizon against Nottingham Forest at the City Ground on Sunday – and this time they must be primed from minute one.
Sabri Lamouchi’s play-off promotion chasing Reds returned to Championship action with a 1-1 draw at Sheffield Wednesday – denied only by a last-minute strike after ex-Town favourite Joe Lolley had given them the lead.
While Town beat Forest reasonably comfortably at home, this is now a major test of how the players handle pressure with the table showing them in 20th, just a point above the drop zone in an incredibly tight relegation battle.
Asked about the state of play and the relegation spotlight becoming more intense, Town boss Cowley didn’t shy away from the task in hand.
“We’ve been under pressure all season since the moment I arrived – with one point after nine games of course we were going to have a difficult season,” he said.
“It was never going to be easy, there were
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“We have made really good strides in this period (building up to the re-start) and that’s what is really frustrating for us. The players have been in a really good place and I’ve been proud of their work ethic and their efforts through this period.
“I feel really disappointed because we have worked exceptionally hard to get the group to a good physical condition to continue to try and work on our game model, and we wanted to show people that – and we didn’t.
“You can do all the revision in the world but if you don’t turn up for the exam and perform in the exam then you are going to leave disappointed – and ultimately that’s how we felt after Wigan.”
Cowley insists Town have been ready for a long time to grapple with a high-pressure run-in to the campaign, which is what made the display against Wigan so difficult to stomach.
“That was hard to take, and we’ve had to accept the criticism that’s come our way but there are eight games to go,” he added.
“If you have one point after nine games, you can’t expect to be out of a relegation battle with eight games to go.
“We knew this was always going to go to the end and, with eight matches left, we have to adapt accordingly.”