Huddersfield Town are hopeful of promotion this season
Huddersfield Town forward Joe Taylor is confident that his side will be “right up there” at the end of their League One campaign.
The Terriers return to league action at home to Stockport County on Saturday, in Town’s first fixture at the Accu Stadium since the club acquired sole ownership of their ground.
Lee Grant’s side head into the encounter off the back of a 1-0 defeat at Harrogate Town in the EFL Trophy in midweek, while they were 1-0 winners at Exeter City last time out in League One.
That victory at St James Park has left them fifth in the table, on 19 points from ten matches played. Meanwhile, Saturday’s visitors are eighth in the division, three points behind the Terriers.
Prior to their victory at the weekend, Town registered two disappointing results back-to-back in the league, losing 3-1 in the West Yorkshire derby to Bradford City before being held 0-0 by lowly Burton Albion, and Taylor said at a press conference last week in the aftermath of those two setbacks: “It’s important to have expectation, but at the same time you can’t get too carried away.
“We’re only human, we’re not going to get it right every single week, week in, week out, it’s just normal.
“Things like this happen, but we back ourselves as a group and as individuals, and we know that come May, we like to believe that we’ll be right up there.
“It’s a new group, but we work with each other every day, we understand each other, we know how to get the best out of each other already. The gaffer’s gelled that into us already, and it’s just we’re human beings, things happen, and things don’t always go your way.
“All we can do is keep going out there on training days, and even on game days, and just working our hardest, and eventually things will come good.”
Taylor netted two goals in 15 appearances in the second half of last term following his arrival from Luton Town in January, while the striker has started this campaign with five goals in his first 14 games of the season.
The 22-year-old returned to the starting 11 against Harrogate in midweek after being benched for Saturday’s win at Exeter, and Taylor said on his desire to be in the team: “I’m one of those people, I want to be playing every game, as many games as I can.
“Even at the start of the season, it was tough for me, because I wanted to be out there, I wanted to be making a difference and scoring goals.
“I’m miles away from where I was last year, I’m streets ahead of where I was then, and I want to just keep playing games, keep scoring goals and hopefully maintain that throughout the year.”
Taylor has been competing for game time up front alongside the likes of Alfie May, Dion Charles and Bojan Radulovic this season, and the forward said: “I think the squad is so strong and so deep that you’re going to have that healthy competition all over, and I think for me it’s just focusing on being the best version of me every time I step out onto the pitch here and the pitch back at the training ground.
“I’m enjoying every minute of it, the healthy competition, the working hard every day, and I just hope it can continue.”
On his individual aims for the campaign, the striker added: “I set myself little goals, like I want to be in and around the golden boot come the end of the season and stuff like that, but I’m not a massive goal setter.
“My goal is to score goals, and hopefully I can do that throughout the season.”
Saturday’s fixture will be followed by a gap in the Terriers’ schedule, with their clash at Luton Town – originally scheduled to take place next Saturday – having been postponed due to international call-ups for the hosts.
