Owls will assume balanced approach in decider
Kachunga keen to defy promotion odds again
HAVING made history with one promotion that confounded the footballing logic that only money can bring success, Elias Kachunga is hungry to repeat the trick with Huddersfield Town.
The Terriers are potentially 180 minutes from reaching the promised land of the Premier League. For a club that last competed in the top flight 45 years ago, and whose budget is dwarfed by the vast majority of their Championship peers, it is a remarkable prospect.
Kachunga, the club’s top scorer, is adamant Town can now finish the job and points to how German minnows SC Paderborn 07 upset the odds by reaching the Bundesliga three years ago as justification for this unswerving belief.
“Winning promotion with Paderborn was unbelievable,” said the 25-year-old to
“The emotion and the celebrations of reaching the top league were special for everyone at the club.
“They had never been in the top division. Huddersfield is similar; it was a long time ago that they played in the top division. What happened in Paderborn gives me confidence at Huddersfield.”
The parallels between Kachunga’s former club in 2014 and Town this term are striking.
As with the Terriers, Paderborn were never spoken about as likely promotion challengers in a division that featured famous old names such as FC Cologne, Dynamo Dresden and Kaiserslautern.
All boasted playing budgets way above that of the minnows, whose stadium held just 15,000 fans.
Most weeks, barely two thirds of that capacity was filled and yet Paderborn went on to clinch promotion behind champions Cologne.
That the two clubs’ respective average attendances stood at 10,998 and 46,235 spoke volumes for the size of the achievement by Kachunga and his team-mates.
“They are similar clubs,” added the forward, who just two months ago made his senior international debut for the DR Congo.
“Two small clubs, no one thinks these clubs can be in the top league.
“But I know with a small club you can beat the big clubs and win promotion.
“I remember that season and it gives me confidence at Huddersfield. Paderborn did not have the bigger players, what you may call stars. That is why I am confident in this team. Everyone here works so hard for each other. Everyone is together and a lot of players have had a very good season.”
The challenge facing Town, of course, is to complete the job of sealing one of the more unlikely promotions in Premier League history.
“No limits was the message from the manager (David Wagner),” said Kachunga when asked what was the target this term.
“We just wanted to start the season and see what happened. We are here now, so have played a very good season. This is not a surprise because we work so hard. That is why we reached the play-offs.”
Kachunga’s first campaign in English football has gone like a dream.
Deployed mostly on the right side of an attacking midfield trio, he has netted 13 times and developed a partnership with rightback Tommy Smith that, at times, has bordered on telepathic.
Such has been his impact, in fact, that Huddersfield recently triggered a clause in the forward’s loan move and made the deal permanent for a £1.12m fee.
“I settled very well in this area,” he added. “It is good. Everyone has been good to me and really helped me. A new country, new language, new league and new team – everything was new. But everyone welcomed me and this is why I have played so well.
“I also like the traditional English support. There is a big celebration for a good defence tackle; that is not normal in Germany. I like that.
“The people stand up and push you on. I like the supporters in Huddersfield.”
Following Paderborn’s unlikely promotion in 2014, Kachunga went on to play at several of Europe’s finest stadia as the minnows took on Bundesliga clubs such as Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund. Wembley, though, would be something else.
“It has a big history and I really want to go there,” he added. “When you are this close, you want to go there. We have a chance now with this one game in Sheffield. We want to take it.” HEAD COACH Carlos Carvalhal has stressed that Sheffield Wednesday’s mindset is anything but euphoric ahead of tonight’s Championship play-off semifinal second leg at Hillsborough.
The Owls head into this evening’s sell-out clash as favourites following Sunday’s 0-0 draw in Huddersfield, which saw a well-regimented defensive game plan executed well.
But the Portuguese is adamant that his side’s advantage is only a small one.
Carvalhal said: “If you ask me or another coach in the world, if you go to the second game of the semi-final with zeros and you play at home, everyone would say that they would prefer to play at home when the game is goalless because our fans make a good impact in the game.
“If you look at the numbers, we win a lot of games at home and have had some massive wins in two seasons.
“That is a fact, but we must now do our work on the pitch.
“The fans will absolutely do the job and we must do what we have to on the pitch, to try and win the game.
“It is one of the most important games and last season was the same.
“But it is important to have balance. Everyone is moderately happy because we achieved a good result. But nobody is euphoric and everyone will be ready for Wednesday.
“I can say it is a small advantage, but we will play against a team who we respect a lot.
“I have my feet on the floor. We still have a job to do. There are 90 minutes still to play where we must play very serious and consistent and try to achieve a good victory.”
In front of a raucous sell-out crowd, Wednesday are seeking to reprise the atmosphere of last season’s home semi-final against Brighton, when the visitors were met with a wall of noise from the opening whistle and home players rose splendidly to the occasion, just as they did in a famous Capital One Cup upset against Arsenal in October 2015.
Pledging that his players will push themselves to the limit in their attempts to get over the line this evening and book a second successive play-off final spot at Wembley, Carvalhal is urging Wednesdayites to perform their part of the bargain too.
He added: “They (fans) know exactly what they must do and so do we. Let’s do our job together. Let us achieve something very, very special and we will fight to the limit. I believe the fans will also give the maximum on Wednesday.”