Huddersfield Town vs Luton Town - Match Preview

Team News

Luton
Kevin Blackwell has just one new injury doubt from the past week, which

Edwards: Viral infection

comes with midfielder David Edwards. Edwards missed the League Cup victory against Charlton Athletic, and the Welsh U-21 midfielder may miss the trip to the Galpharm Stadium because of a viral infection, meaning that former Norwich midfielder Paul McVeigh may replace him and make his second start of the season. Other than Edwards, there are no other new injury worries. Peschisolido and Parkin are still out with ankle injuries, and there will be no places in the team for Keith Keane, Paul Underwood and Richard Langley because of ongoing injury problems.

Due to the team's success against Charlton on Tuesday night, Kevin Blackwell is unlikely to ring the changes for the match against Huddersfield. However, there are a few positions where the starters are in a little bit of doubt. Dean Brill put in a very good performance on Tuesday, but despite this, Blackwell brought in keeper Ben Alnwick from Tottenham on loan Thursday to add some depth to that area. As Ben Alnwick is regarded as a very talented prospect, it is unlikely that Blackwell will play Brill instead of him, so Deano may have to wait until Alnwick's three month loan spell is over to get another match. In central defence, Jaroslaw Fojut came into the team on Tuesday and looked very promising in place of Chris Coyne, which also gives Blackwell a

Talbot: Pushing for a start?

selection dilemma. Chris Perry was the player at fault for the Charlton goal on Tuesday and made a couple of other mistakes, so Coyne could come in place instead of Perry, or Blackwell may want to keep the same team together. The players in the midfield could be chosen on the basis of David Edwards' suitability to play, but Drew Talbot's late goal may well have given the management team something to think about. Spring and Robinson should both start, after particularly good performances in the week, but Blackwell may opt to drop McVeigh for Talbot and go back to 4-4-2 rather than 4-5-1. However, it is more likely that the same system will be kept, and players will be chosen to fit into this system, so Talbot may have to settle for a place on the bench.

Predicted Team - Alnwick (GK), Goodall (DL), Jackson (DR), Coyne (DC), Fojut (DC), Morgan (ML), Bell (MR), Spring (MC), McVeigh (MC), Robinson (MC), Furlong (SC)

Huddersfield
Huddersfield have had a problem this week with a flu bug circulating around the club, but most of their players should be available despite the bug. The only doubt because of the bug is Ireland U-21 midfielder Michael Collins. New loan signing from West Bromwich Albion Ronnie Wallwork may come into the team in central defence or in midfield in place of Michael Collins, despite a lack of match practice in the first-team. Danny Schofield is back in training after an ankle injury but is unlikely to feature for Andy Ritchie's side. Central defender David Mirfin is back after a recovery from a back problem. Definitely out of the Huddersfield side are Tom Clarke, Luke Malcher, Robbie Williams and club captain Jon Worthington.

Huddersfield's recent form has been a little topsy-turvy, more turvy than topsy recently with four straight defeats, albeit three away from home. Their last match saw a 3-0 defeat at Northampton Town, whereas their last home game a week earlier saw Ritchie's side lose 3-2 at home to Cheltenham Town, with Malvin Kamara and Richard Keogh scoring for Huddersfield. They started the season with three wins out of four league matches, the last being a 2-1 win at Millwall, but haven't won since and are currently 15th in the league, so will be looking to bounce back quickly. Their top scorers are Luke Beckett and Malvin Kamara, who have both scored two goals each.

Connections

Blackwell: Keeper for Huddersfield

Current Luton manager, Kevin Blackwell, has had experience as a goalkeeper and a coach at Huddersfield. Kevin followed Neil Warnock to Huddersfield in 1993 from Torquay. He played three full games at Huddersfield, as well as two appearances as a substitute, but his main role was as a coach with Neil Warnock rather than as an important player. Bizarrely, a few years after he left Huddersfield in 1995, he was taken to court accused of breaking a spectators arm with a stray shot during a warm up during his time at Huddersfield. Efetobore Sodje was also a favourite at Huddersfield - the Nigerian defender played 67 times for Huddersfield between 2003 and 2005, scoring 5 goals in the process. Sodje also had a short spell at Luton in the 1999-2000 season. He was quite a popular figure at Huddersfield, and apparently the club shop sold replica bandanas during his time at the Terriers. Luton hero Andy Dibble was also loaned out to Huddersfield during his time at the Hatters, making 5 appearances for the Terriers in 1987, a year before his heroism at Wembley. The not-so-heroic Simon Davies also played for Huddersfield and Luton - he made three appearances for Huddersfield whilst on loan from Manchester United before joining Luton in 1997. Reasonably good centre-back Julian Watts was on loan at Huddersfield from Leicester in 1998 before joining Luton a year later, on loan initially from Bristol City but later permanently.

Past Meetings

Beckett: Scored against Luton

Huddersfield and Luton have only actually met 20 times in both clubs history, ten times home and away. Of these 20 matches, Luton have the edge, winning 10 of them compared to Huddersfield's 7 wins, with three draws between the two teams. At Huddersfield, Luton have won half of the matches as well, with 5 wins compared to Huddersfield's 3, and 2 draws. The last meeting between the two sides in the 2004-05 season was at the Galpharm Stadium, and it ended in a 1-1 draw between the two clubs. Ahmet Brkovic put Luton ahead in the first half, but Luke Beckett equalised in the last minute for the Terriers. The last match at Kenilworth Road saw a brace from Junior Mendes in the first-half seal a win for Huddersfield at Kenilworth Road, with Paul Underwood's consolation goal eventually not enough. That was the first match that Luton lost in the 2004-05 campaign, 13 games in. The first season the two clubs met was in 1952-53, with Huddersfield winning 3-0 at home and then beating Luton 2-0 at Kenilworth Road. Luton have also scored 30 times against Huddersfield, with the Terriers scoring 25 times against Luton. For a more in-depth look, click this link.

Prediction
Luton aren't very good at picking up points away from home, but Huddersfield are off form as well, so we could have a chance here. We will probably still let a goal in whatever the defence and new keeper are like, so I'll go for a 1-1 draw, although I think that prediction is a little bit optimistic.