Pundit raises Huddersfield Town issue that is similar to one at Watford FC | OneFootball

Adrian Clarke has raised a major concern for Huddersfield Town's promotion ambition

EFL pundit Adrian Clarke has compared Huddersfield Town’s issues to Watford for the season ahead.

The Terriers are hoping to secure promotion back to the Championship at the first attempt following their relegation to League One last year.

Michael Duff has been appointed as manager, and has built a team that he will hope can secure a top two or top six finish in the third tier.

Huddersfield have won three of their opening four fixtures, scoring six and conceding just three.

This has left them sitting seventh in the table ahead of this weekend’s trip to face Bolton Wanderers on Saturday.

Adrian Clarke raises Huddersfield Town concern

Clarke believes that Huddersfield and Watford share a similar issue with their squad for this season.

He has claimed that the Terriers have a strong defence and midfield to pick from, but that their forward options are lacking for a team trying to fight for automatic promotion.

“I think they’re still a very solid team, and I think they’ll make life difficult for Bolton,” said Clarke, via the What the EFL?! podcast.

“They’ve got a really solid back three for this level in [Tom] Lees, [Michal] Helik and [Nigel] Lonwijk, who they brought in who was at Plymouth in the season when they went up, he was really good for them.

“He’s playing at the minute on the left of the back three, you’ve got a good goalie in [Lee] Nicholls as well, and I think their midfield is really strong actually.

“Jonathan Hogg, Ben Wiles, Antony Evans have got the shirt at the moment, with Joe Hodge knocking on the door as well maybe to join them.

“You’ve got Herbie Kane, who I don’t think is fit at the moment, so you’ve got lots of really good options in midfield.

“For me, it’s a little bit like Watford, what about the strikers? Who is going to get the goals? Danny Ward is not going to get any for them this weekend [due to suspension].

“You’ve got Josh Koroma, who was really lively in the last game, Lee started the season pretty brightly, he’s a threat but is he really a striker? I don’t know.

“And then you’ve got the youngster Callum Marshall, who is on loan from West Ham, who has scored already which is good for him, but he is a rookie at this level.

“Outside of that, I don’t see much firepower from Huddersfield, so I think they’re really well coached, good on the ball, great without it because they’ll always be a good pressing team under Michael Duff, but have they got enough X-factor players up front, enough finishers to win enough games to go up? That’s the big question mark.

“They would’ve liked to have brought in Joe Taylor from Luton on deadline day, and he decided to stay in the end, and they were left empty-handed, so a little bit short.

“I think this will be a tight game.”

Huddersfield Town league position

Huddersfield are seventh, but have played a game fewer than Charlton Athletic and Barnsley, who are both only one point above them in the table.

The Terriers haven’t played since August in the league due to the international break, so will be hoping to get back to winning ways when they face Bolton.

Their previous fixture was a 2-1 loss to Rotherham United, in which Danny Ward was dismissed in the 72nd minute, with the game still 0-0.

Their opponents this weekend, Bolton, will also be looking to get back to winning ways after failing to earn victory in each of their last three league games.

Lack of consistent goal scorer is a concern for Huddersfield

Koroma’s most prolific league campaign for Huddersfield came in 2020-21 when he bagged eight in the Championship, having only scored six last year when the team suffered relegation.

While he’s been a regular presence in the team over the last few years, his lack of consistent goals has been an issue.

Marshall has got off the mark as well, but it would be a big ask to rely on a 19-year-old to firepower a team back to the Championship.

This is an issue Duff will have to find a solution to, as teams need to be a strong attacking threat if they’re to fight for promotion, particularly due to how competitive the top of the table should be this season.