Lee Nicholls has stated that Huddersfield Town need to redeem themselves after a humbling West Yorkshire Derby defeat to Bradford City.
Despite a solid start to the match at Valley Parade, Lee Grant’s side found themselves down 3-0 at halftime, with Bradford-born Bobby Pointon scoring a hat-trick, including two within the space of a minute as Town collapsed in the moments before the break. Debutant Zepiqueno Redmond got one back in the game, but it was too late as the Terriers slipped to their third defeat of the season.
Nicholls Demands Response
In a much-anticipated match with no competitive fixtures between these rivals since 2013, Huddersfield fell flat in yet another away game, which has become a worrying concern for the League One title favourites. All three of their losses so far in the third tier have come on the road, with Blackpool, Barnsley, and now Bradford putting three past both Owen Goodman and Nicholls in those games.
Speaking to the club’s media team following the loss, the 32-year-old goalkeeper said (Quotes via Yorkshire Live):
“I was happy with the first 20 minutes, I thought we played really well, we moved the ball quick, but I think the reaction after the first goal has probably not been good enough today.
“I thought the fans were incredible today. I think even at 3-0 down, I could hear people clapping, and I could hear people saying ‘come on, liven up’ and stuff, and even towards the end, they were still pushing us, still trying to get us back into the game, so the support meant a lot today.
“For us, it’s about putting it right now. I think we need to go out and we need to put on a performance for them, and put this right. I think we need to as a group address this, and go away and have a look, as staff, as players, see what we can do better and put it right for them.”
Town welcome Burton Albion to Kirklees next weekend, ahead of their EFL Cup tie against Premier League giants Manchester City just a few days later, and their next trip outside of Yorkshire sees them head to Exeter City in two weeks’ time.
Writers’ View
Huddersfield Town failed to show up and respond on Saturday and it cost them the bragging rights in the West Yorkshire Derby. Bradford demolished them in the final stretches of the first half and the Terriers failed to show any response against Bradford until it was too late to mount a comeback. Town have been rightly tipped as promotion favourites this season with some of their home performances being impressive, but in order to live up to those expectations, they need to build some form away from home.
