Cowley must think again for Forest trip
TOWN BOSS REVEALS WHERE IT WENT WRONG IN SORRY DEFEAT AGAINST WIGAN
DANNY Cowley is already starting to formulate his gameplan for Town’s next Championship assignment away to Nottingham Forest.
There is additional time because of a free midweek and the fact the Terriers don’t return to action until Sunday afternoon following their miserable 2-0 home defeat to Wigan Athletic on the restart.
The manager warned it would be no easy task against a Wigan side at the very top of the Championship form table over the past 10 games, but Cowley felt Town were well prepared for the challenge and had shown in their warm-up games real promise of producing productive form for the run-in.
In an empty John Smith’s Stadium, however, the first 90 minutes of Town’s nine-game battle for survival offered precious few positives and dropped the club two places in the table, just a point above the relegation zone.
Ever diligent not to miss a learning opportunity, Cowley has started his preparation for the Sky televised game at the City Ground by watching back the Wigan match and laying bare the gameplan problems which must be put right this coming weekend. “We were bitterly disappointed with the levels of our performance,” said Cowley, who used all five substitutes permitted under new temporary EFL rules in an attempt to claw back the deficit of goals by Jamal Lowe and Anthony Pilkington.
“We worked very hard in the lead-up to the game and we didn’t get value for that hard work – and that’s tough to take.
“We wanted to play with power and aggression and intensity, and we didn’t do that. We wanted to be dynamic, and we weren’t that either.
“It was really disappointing.” Cowley played with leading scorer Karlan Grant as the lone striker in the absence of injured duo Fraizer Campbell and Steve Mounie, meaning Arsenal loan man Emile Smith Rowe was shifted to the left wing and Juninho Bacuna was handed the reins at No.10.
Natural No.10 Alex Pritchard had taken a knock in training earlier in the week and was deemed not fit enough to start, although he went on in the second half.
So what was the thinking going into the game, with Jonathan Hogg