Huddersfield Town boss Liam Manning has admitted Lincoln City pose an “extremely difficult” test as the Terriers try to hold on to their play-off place.
It is not hard to see why. We head to West Yorkshire on the back of a 20-match unbeaten league run, six straight wins, and a weekend in which Stockport County were brushed aside 3-1 at Sincil Bank. That latest result did not just keep us top of League One, it set a new club record and underlined the momentum building around Michael Skubala’s side.
Huddersfield, by contrast, are heading into the game with a very different mood around them. Saturday’s 0-0 draw at Port Vale did little to settle nerves and left them clinging on to a play-off place, level on points with Stockport, having played two games more.
For a side that began the season with promotion ambitions, and still has plenty of talent in the squad, that is the kind of pressure that can quickly turn a big home fixture into an uncomfortable one.
Manning knows what is coming
Manning did not try to dress it up in the build-up to Tuesday’s game. Speaking after the stalemate at Vale Park, the Huddersfield head coach admitted the challenge awaiting his side is a serious one.
“We have to enjoy that (Lincoln visit), I think we have to make the most of it,” he said.
“We have to keep believing every single time we turn up for a match that we can win, and that we can achieve something, and that’s very much the message for the lads.
“They’re disappointed (with Saturday’s draw), they’re obviously desperate to come here and get a win, but we reflect on it tonight and get ready to go Tuesday, because it’s an extremely difficult game.”
That feels like an honest assessment rather than a manager attempting mind games. There is no getting away from the fact we are the standard-setters in the division right now. Since the defeat at Wycombe in November, City have taken 52 points from a possible 60 in the league, a return that has turned a good season into one that is starting to feel genuinely special.
Huddersfield also know there is recent evidence that this is a difficult match-up for them. They may have beaten us in the EFL Trophy in December, but in the league meeting at the Bank on New Year’s Day they were held 1-1, and this current City side looks sharper and more ruthless now than it did then.
Terriers searching for more
The home side’s problem, judging by Manning’s comments, is that their attacking players are not consistently delivering in the big moments. He was blunt about that after the Port Vale draw.
“People have to execute, so rather than standing here talking around a lack of quality on the final bit, we need people to step up and deliver, and if not then obviously we can make those changes,” Manning said.
“That’s the bit the lads have to embrace at this stage of the season. It’s such a great opportunity for them to go and make it happen, and that’s the message going into Tuesday, let’s go and grab the opportunity, let’s go and be the ones to take the game to them.”
That sounds like a manager still searching for the right balance, and perhaps still waiting for the right response. Let’s hope he doesn’t get it tomorrow night, in a game which is less about the haves and the have-nots, and more like the cans and the cannots.
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