Huddersfield Town boss Andre Breitenreiter is looking to see a 90-minute performance from his side at Bristol City tomorrow following the second-half collapse at Preston North End in midweek.
The Terriers head into Saturday’s clash tasked with producing a response from Tuesday’s 4-1 defeat at Deepdale, in which the visitors conceded four times after the break having led 1-0 at half-time.
Town currently sit fourth from bottom in the Championship table and are outside of the relegation zone only on goal difference with just four games of the season remaining. Meanwhile, 12th-placed Bristol City head into tomorrow’s encounter having picked up 10 points from their last four matches, with Liam Manning’s side beating Blackburn Rovers 5-0 last time out on Wednesday.
“They have a good team with individual really good players, they’re quick, they’ve scored a lot of goals now,” Breitenreiter said.
“We also have good players that can score goals, we can defend really well. We had two clean sheets in the last four games, and it’s possible [to do that again].
“We need to show our abilities over the whole game, and we need the will and the attitude to defend as a team over 90 minutes. We stopped also defending as a team after conceding the first goal, and this is the message to the team. When we play like after the conceded goal, it’s not possible to get points, but we [have] showed that it’s possible, so we try it again.
“They had a lot of changes on Wednesday, so we don’t know how they really start, if they play in a 3-4-3 or 4-4-2, they changed the last games. We’re prepared for everything and show the clips tonight, how they played the last few games.
“They have principles and they press high sometimes, then they are in a mid-block, so we have to be careful in every situation, but we also have to concentrate on our performance, and there are many things we can do better after the goal.
“We show them also many positive things, especially from the first half from the last game, when we defended as a team, when we fought for survival. This is what we need, [to be] totally focused on the game, and the 100 per cent will and attitude for the game.”
Breitenreiter is eager to avoid a repeat of his side’s second-half showing against Preston, with the head coach acknowledging that his team “stopped playing football” after they conceded a 53rd-minute equaliser.
The Terriers’ boss also recognised that drop-offs in second-half performances have been a season-wide issue for Town. He has called on his side to put an end to that trend as they bid to pick up the points they need to avoid the drop.
“When you watch the stats (from the Preston game), between the first and second half, we won duels 57 per cent first half and in the second half we won 30 per cent,” Breitenreiter said.
“We run less five kilometres second half. You need players with much experience to tell the other boys not to give up. The game is over after 90-plus minutes, and you have to stay confident the whole time.
“Maybe it’s a normal thing that you feel bad when you concede a goal against, but you need calm and patience, and we lost the game after the goal, and then it’s too easy. We got the second goal [against] in the 84th minute, but we stopped playing football after the 1-1, it was the same like against West Brom.
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