Mark Fotheringham explains why attacking is the best form of defense on the road for Huddersfield Town

Alongside Yorkshire rivals Hull City, they have conceded 14 goals in 12 appearances. In the first 45 minutes of away games this season, Town’s run of ten goals in five outings is the worst figure alone.

But for head coach Mark Fotheringham, offense remains the best form of defence.

While he’s looking for an improvement in defensive organisation, especially away from home, he doesn’t think reaching the interval in his next away matches with a clean sheet, for example, is a panacea. He wouldn’t agree.

Fotheringham, preparing for Saturday’s televised derby at Rotherham United, said: “It’s not what I think, to be honest.

“You can see I have a lot of attacking players on the pitch and I want to go out there and score goals and give our fans a really proud feeling that their team is just going there and not holding back and letting the handbrake released and Go ahead.

“We want to attack and score as many goals as possible. We have scored six goals in three games and we know every day that we can.

“If it hadn’t been for the final pass or move we could have scored a lot more. We have to keep improving and we are working on safety behind the ball in training. We have been relentless at this regard.”

A week off between games has given the Scot invaluable time on the training ground to update players on his intensive demands and build relationships.

The 38-year-old is unequivocal and passionate about the fact that all his work is done on the training ground, with his players tasked with applying what he has asked of them on a matchday, weekday window work according to him. .

While he’s hands-on in training and isn’t shy about letting players know what he wants, he also expects them to conduct themselves along the way. His philosophy is clearly “train as you play”.

If there are a few crosswords between them, so be it. In his eyes, it shows that they care.

Fotheringham continued: ‘It shows they have a real desire to do well and they are playing with real fire in their stomachs at the moment and you can see it in their eyes that they want to come out and play in front of our people for their show what we are and are here to win.

“The only good thing about (last) weekend was that even though we were in the game, there were actually some heated exchanges about two or three players coming into the dressing room and I really admired them for that. the kind of environment I want.

“You can have a falling out, but that’s for the target and that’s for success. I keep telling them, we’re like family and we can have our falling outs, but you put it to bed the next day and move on.

“Because we know in this league there are so many games and a big volume of games coming up. They really show me a big commitment in training right now.”