Huddersfield Town came agonisingly close to a return to the Premier League after a three-year absence last season, but ultimately lost out to Steve Cooper’s Nottingham Forest side in the playoff final at Wembley Stadium.
Since then, the Yorkshire-based club have seen the exit of two managers and several key players, events that have contributed to their 24th-placed standing after a third of this Championship campaign, a worrying five points from safety.
Fotheringham left his post as Hertha Berlin assistant to take the reins at the John Smith’s Stadium at the start of October, but has not had the immediate impact the Huddersfield hierarchy would have desired, having only collected five points in his first six matches.
The Terriers are winless in their last three, and with four of their final five fixtures before the World Cup against teams occupying top-six places, the assignment for Fotheringham’s side will be to prevent the gap between them and safety from becoming even bigger for when club football resumes in December.
All of Huddersfield’s victories this year have come in front of their home fans and coupling that with Millwall’s unconvincing away record, there may be some small bits of optimism amongst the Town faithful when they go through the turnstiles on Saturday.
The Den erupted last weekend when Millwall’s Tyler Burey netted a last-minute winner against managerless West Bromwich Albion, extending the home side’s winning run to four games and their unbeaten run to five.
Head coach Rowett has continued to play down his team’s playoff potential despite results of late, perhaps grounded by the last three campaigns where the Lions have flirted with the top six but ultimately failed to finish inside the playoffs when the final ball had been kicked in May.
No one has taken more points from their home matches than Millwall this season, but only one win in seven Championship away outings suggests that a maximum at Huddersfield this weekend is not a foregone conclusion despite the distance between the sides in the league standings.
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Jed Wallace’s departure to West Brom was a massive blow to the Londoners in the summer, but the five goals provided by new arrival Zian Flemming have gone some way in replacing such a talismanic figure from seasons gone by, with the Dutchman adapting well since his switch from Fortuna Sittard in June.
Huddersfield will be without a host of key first-team players when Millwall visit on Saturday, including Tino Anjorin who is yet to return from Glandular fever and experienced midfielder Jonathan Hoggwho is out with a calf strain.
Defensive duo Matty Pearson (foot) and Will Boyle (foot) also remain sidelined and are unlikely to be seen before the World Cup.
