Huddersfield Town have had yet another injury blow confirmed after Michael Duff revealed Josh Koroma will be out for at least a month.
He becomes the latest name to be on the sidelines in West Yorkshire after succumbing to a back injury, limiting his action against League One leaders Birmingham City. He was then removed from the squad for the back-to-back victories against Barnsley and has now pulled out of the Sierra Leone squad for this upcoming international break.
The win over The Tykes in league play put an end to a four-game losing run for the club and elevated them to ninth place as the majority of League One takes a break due to international call-ups. For Town, Callum Marshall is representing Northern Ireland and Joe Hodge has been called up for the Irish Under 21’s side in addition to Koroma’s initial inclusion for his nation.
Hodge was another injury concern for Huddersfield during their game against the Oakwell club after sustaining a groin injury. He is potentially joining Michal Helik and Lee Nicholls in The Terriers’ physio room after they were ruled out in previous weeks. Speaking about Koroma’s condition, Duff said (Quotes via Yorkshire Live): “Josh will be out for a while now.
“I think it’s like a stress-related [issue] in his back. He’s been carrying it for a few weeks, it’s just got to a point where he can’t play. He’s been pulled out of that squad.
“He’ll be out for I’d imagine at least a month, because it just needs rest. It’s one of those that you can’t treat it, so you can’t speed up the healing process, it’s just a time thing I think. I don’t know what the actual timescale is, but I’d imagine he’ll be out for a while.”
“[On Joe Hodge] It doesn’t look great. He’s away with Ireland at the minute having a scan, but he felt a pop in his groin, so it’s never a great sign when a player says the word ‘pop’ with an injury.
“It’s frustrating, because he was coming off anyway. He had a bit of a tight groin, but we were making the sub, and the ball stayed in play for about three or four minutes in the moment that he felt this pop. Hopefully it’s not too bad, but it didn’t sound great.”
After the break, the Kirklees side welcome Bristol Rovers, who are also in a rough patch of four games without a win in the third tier. It will be the first time the two clubs faced each other since 2011, during Huddersfield’s last stint in League One.
Writer’s View
Huddersfield Town have had rotten luck with injuries and losing Josh Koroma for at least a month is probably the worst one they could have had. He was been their focal point up front and without him, Michael Duff’s side have struggled for goals in the rest of their attacking options. January signing Bojan Radulovic is yet to open his account for the season, and Callum Marshall is the only one to have scored in league play this season. Duff will look to the performances of Freddie Ladapo and Danny Ward in their most recent win in the EFL Trophy over Barnsley as reassurance and will hope they can translate that when they face Bristol Rovers next week.
Despite the results, Huddersfield are still doing decently to be in ninth place. They may have lost the most games out of any side in the top 16 in the third tier, but still have got 15 points on the board and are in a good position so far. Michael Duff will seek to turn potential future losses into at least draws and hope to pick up points regularly to propel them towards the top of the table. The sides in the top six do seem to be in scintillating form right now, with Birmingham City, Mansfield Town and Wycombe Wanderers all winning four of their last five games. Getting a positive result against a struggling Bristol Rovers team will be a great start to closing the gap on the promotion places.
1st Class Honours in Multimedia Journalism at Salford University. Writing mainly about League Two.
