‘We’re heading in right direction’

CARLOS Corberan is confident his side are on the right track despite their 1-0 Carabao Cup defeat at home to League One Rochdale.

The Huddersfield Town head coach was not happy to be out of the competition, but insists his team are making steps towards becoming the side he wants them to be.

“Of course we didn’t want to have a defeat, but at the same time I don’t think on the field that we deserved the defeat,” he said.

“We tried to change the dynamic and the result, but first of all it’s about working the team towards having clear quality and commitment.

“From their point of view and the point of view of the understanding of the game, the team for me gave a step [forward].

“I don’t like to talk about the step in front after one result. Much more important for me is to continue growing as a team, learning off the mistakes and trying to continue the positive things that we were doing.

“That is what is going to allow us to be competitive in the Championship.”

Town’s build-up play was much too slow at times, with the ball often getting stuck around the halfway line as Rochdale reorganised themselves.

“In this part of the season you don’t see all the things that you want to see – the team dynamic, for example,” said Corberan.

“It was the first game for Jonathan Hogg in some time, after the holidays we had some injuries, and you need some time to recover your level. We are very focused on that.

“We will start to feel more comfortable, we will start to move the ball ideally faster, we will start to put the ball in close to the goal, we will start to control every transition.

“Everything cannot be positive right now, we have to accept this.

“In the last minutes of the second half, when your emotion moves you to try and change the result, sometimes you lose a bit of organisation in the game.

“It’s something negative but at the same time positive because you’re talking about the emotion of the players. So I am happy to see the players are excited to go for the game. It’s something we will continue trying to prove.”