Luton Town travel to the John Smith’s Stadium on Friday in a bottom-of-the-table clash, with both teams desperate to take the three points.
Currently, Huddersfield sit in 19th place, two points off the relegation zone and six points ahead of Luton, who find themselves rock bottom with four games to go.
Since the return of manager Nathan Jones, coinciding with the restart to professional football, Luton Town have found new form, losing one game in the previous five. Excluding a 5-0 loss to Reading, three 1-1 draws, most impressively against league leaders Leeds United, and a 1-0 victory over Swansea have given the Hatters hope to avoid relegation to League One.
Meanwhile, Huddersfield had a shaky start following the hiatus, with losses to
Wigan and Nottingham Forest. Since, they have not conceded in three games, with a 3-0 victory over Birmingham followed by 0-0 draws against Preston and Reading.
Given recent results, it would be hasty to assume a winner of this game with any confidence. In their opening encounter this season, Luton Town secured their first home win of the campaign with a 2-1 victory over the Yorkshire side, with James Collins and Andrew Shinnie cancelling out Karlan Grant’s strike.
Team News
Danny Cowley will be looking for revenge in this return fixture, but this will not be an easy task given the busy schedule that they are facing. Frazier Campbell is the biggest doubt for the Terriers, who is currently nursing an achilles injury.
In addition, this busy period is taking a physical toll on some players, particularly the more senior members such as Richard Stearman.
This is not an easy period for any squad, so both managers will need to be meticulous in their planning by keeping an eye on their next game and rotating the squad to the best of their ability. Former Terriers loanee Izzy Brown is the main doubt for Jones’ side, following an achilles injury which ruled him out of their 1-1 draw with Barnsley on Tuesday.
My verdict
Both teams are fighting to stay up, so it will be a battle no doubt. However, it does not seem like a matchup full of goals, and one mistake or one moment of brilliance could be the difference.
Match Preview written by Seb Rowland