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Match Reports

Huddersfield Town 0 Preston North End 0

4 July 2020

Match Reports

Huddersfield Town 0 Preston North End 0

4 July 2020

North End had to settle for a point at the John Smith’s Stadium despite an excellent performance and dominating their hosts.

Despite their determined efforts, they were unable to grab a winner with late chances for substitutes Scott Sinclair and Sean Maguire going narrowly wide.

Manager Alex Neil made four changes to the side that faced Derby County a few days earlier and the additions of Bauer, Harrop, Barkhuizen and Ledson all contributed to a positive display from the off.

It was a game where the Lilywhites were on the front foot from the off, the sitters of Pearson and Ledson dominating the play in the middle of the park and allowing the men in front of them to play on the front foot and attack the opposition.

The threat of Barkhuizen’s pace in behind the Huddersfield Town defence was evident from the outset as a number of times he broke in behind and threatened, with Potts, Browne and Harrop often willing runners to break the lines.

Set pieces were also a threat, with five first half corners, the closest coming on 36 minutes when Harrop’s out-swinger was met at the back post by Bauer, who headed down, but narrowly wide of the left hand upright.

After watching his side be second to most things in the first half, Danny Cowley made two changes at half-time with Colin Quaner and Steve Mounie on for Frazier Campbell and Elias Kachunga in attack. The second half also started amidst the arrival of the rains that had clearly followed across the Pennines.

The second half drinks break brought changes for the green-clad Lilywhites as well, with Jayden Stockley and Sean Maguire added to the attacking lines with Browne and Harrop making way for the two centre forwards.

Bodin and Sinclair were also added to the attackers, giving North End four strikers on the pitch in the closing minutes looking for a winner, which saw five minutes added on at the end.

In the fourth minute a ball forward from Maguire sent Scott Sinclair in behind the Terriers backline and into the area, but his shot was inches wide of the left-hand post from 15 yards out. The same man also curled a 25 yards effort past Lossl, but again it flashed past the post.

And with the last kick of the game, they had another chance to win it as a headed ball back in by Potts found Sean Maguire in a left-hand channel, and he got a shot away, but it went into the side-netting and the final whistle followed.

Huddersfield Town line-up: Lossl, Toffolo, Hogg, Chalobah (Gorenc-Stankovic, 85), Kachunga (Quaner, 46), Stearman, Grant (Willock, 76), Pritchard (Smith-Rowe, 55), Campbell (Mounie, 46), Schindler (c), O’Brien. Subs not used: Coleman, King, Pyke, Duhaney.

PNE line-up: Rudd, Rafferty, Hughes, Pearson, Bauer, Davies, Potts, Ledson (Sinclair, 83), Barkhuizen (Bodin, 89), Browne (Maguire, 72), Harrop (Stockley, 72). Subs not used: Ripley, Fisher, Bayliss, Storey, Nugent.

Referee: Mr D Bond


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