Even if they would have preferred to have had two more touches, the manager appreciated the fans for sticking with the team to the very end.
On Saturday afternoon, Terriers supporters were left perplexed and then let down when, with the game still goalless against Watford, they won a corner. However, the referee blew the final whistle just as Sorba Thomas was about to take it.
Darren Moore chose to respond to the decision with his customary generosity. To be fair to the referees, this occurred long after the allotted seven minutes of extra time and after a nearly flawless performance.
In fact, the Huddersfield Town manager decided to take the fans’ annoyance at the odd timing of the whistle as a positive indication following a goalless draw in which neither team really had many genuine chances, largely because of a series of outstanding off-the-ball performances from the Town’s injured players.
Moore said: “They put seven minutes up. You think when it goes to that corner and you think there’s potential to go and score a goal…obviously, we’re so used to playing out to the end of the game, but the referee said the time had gone and he blew the whistle, so we have to respect the referee for that.
“But the reaction of the crowd tells you everything that you need to know really in terms of the game because after that resolute defending, they probably thought it was an opportunity where we might have pinched a winner.”
Moore added his appreciation for the fans’ response to a performance that was full of spirit and organisation but not much in the way of attacking flair in the absence of 11 first-team players, saying: “We thank them all for understanding where we’re at the moment. We’re all Huddersfield Town: players, supporters, staff, everybody, we’re all committed to this football club and it’s great to see the fans understand the position that we’re in at the moment.
“The way they got behind the team and what we were trying to do today was exemplary from all of them really, so we thank them all very much for staying right the way to the end and and getting us over the line.
“Obviously we wish things were a lot better than what they are at the moment, but under the extremes that we’re under with the players that we’ve got missing, I thought the players showed real commitment and desire to not want to get beat today. We hope that over the next days and over the week that we may get one or two more bodies available, but we’ll see how the week goes.
“We know our captain [Jonathan Hogg] is back for next week, that’s a positive sign. Obviously, we know that Josh Ruffels is back in, so he’ll have another full week’s training. David Kasumu will hopefully have another full week of training, and we’ll see how we get on with Josh Koroma. These are the positive signs but also maybe one or two could fashion next week. We’ll wait and see and we won’t commit too early.”
Moore added of Kian Harratt: “It’s just a personal issue that we just want to maintain as private, but hopefully next week, all being well, he’ll be able to join up with us as well.
