Michael Duff hoping ‘excellent’ Huddersfield win will help change club mentality

Posted Sunday, August 11, 2024 by PA

Huddersfield head coach Michael Duff wants his players to get used to the winning feeling they experienced in their 2-0 victory away to Peterborough.

Former Barnsley and Swansea boss Duff is Huddersfield’s seventh managerial appointment of the past two years, both of which saw them struggling against relegation from the Championship – a battle they eventually lost last season.

But the Terriers have aspirations of bouncing straight back into the second tier at the first time of asking, which they underscored by claiming the points against a Peterborough side who reached the League One play-off semi-finals last term.

Duff said: “I’m not naive, I know what’s gone on in the past, and there is a little bit of ‘we’re not used to winning’ – we have to change the mentality of the whole football club.

“I thought we were excellent. I thought we were good value for the win against a really good team.

“We showed every part of the game: we had to dig in and look solid defensively, we pressed really well at times, and then I thought we used the ball well, particularly second half.

“We didn’t sit and I thought most of the game was played in Peterborough’s half.

“Their best opportunities came from us giving the ball away. They’ve got some good players, make no mistake, but when they’re getting their chances from our poor play rather than their good play, that’s a frustration.”

Peterborough had the better of the early exchanges, especially on the counter-attack, with Ricky-Jade Jones dragging their best opening wide of the far post after racing past Michal Helik.

Huddersfield responded well, however, with summer signing Antony Evans scoring with a deflected effort from just the edge of the box off Ben Wiles’ cross.

Wiles then netted in similar fashion in first-half injury time to double Huddersfield’s lead, while Helik had a tap-in ruled out for offside off a set-piece in the second half.

Posh boss Darren Ferguson said: “The start of the season, you’re at home, there is that anticipation we have all been looking forward to, so it’s a disappointing result.

“I felt the first half we were the better team. We created the better chances and more than matched them. But for whatever reason we looked as though we lost a bit of confidence and belief the moment they scored. And then the second goal is a bit of a killer.

“We played well for 30 minutes up until they scored, we did the stuff we had worked on and we gave them problems but when they scored they went up in confidence and you have to keep the belief.

“Second half I have to say they were very comfortable, too comfortable for my liking.”