Martin on his goal & the 1-1 draw with Derby
Martin Paterson was delighted to end the wait for his first competitive goal at home for Huddersfield Town in today’s 1-1 home draw with Derby County – but he believes the Terriers could have nicked all three points.
Paterson has had to be patient to open his account on home soil after his summer move from Burnley, but that wait ended with four minutes of normal time remaining today thanks to a lofted left-footed effort.
“I’m not happy that I’ve kept people waiting, but I’m working hard on the training ground, in the gym and on the pitch and today I got a goal. I needed a bit of luck and it came, so I believe I will go on a run now,” Martin told htafc.com.
“I can promise you that nobody was more frustrated than me that I hadn’t scored here, but all I could do was keep working hard. I was furious after the Reading game as I felt I should have had a couple of goals, but today nothing dropped to me until the goal. That’s the standard that I should be working at.”
The Northern Ireland international also believes that there was another factor that played its part in him notching his first competitive goal at the John Smith’s Stadium.
“I went back to my old boots today; the green Northern Ireland ones that have my kids’ names on. I change my boots a lot, but I’ll be keeping these on for a long time now! Sometimes, when you’re on a run of not scoring as a striker, you change little things to try and give yourself a mental edge. Today that worked.”
The Terriers were the team on top in the second 45 minutes and the 26 year-old believes that the team could have taken all three points against the Rams.
“There was a bit of frustration from the crowd today because we played so well but just weren’t quite taking our chances. That goal came and hopefully that will settle us down, because in the grand scheme of things a point against Derby, who are up near the top of the League is a good one. However, we possibly should have won it.
“The first-half was sloppy and we know it, but we reacted and gave the crowd a good second-half. There were a lot of blocks and a few great saves from their goalkeeper and it’s such a shame that we couldn’t win it.
“I think the goal came too late; if it had been 10 minutes earlier we might have gone on and won. I nearly got another one just afterwards when I was at full stretch, but the defender luckily just got a touch. It’s a positive thing that we think we should have won it, because they’ve just won seven in a row before today. They are the standards we’ve set here.
“We’re so close to being a real threat and we know that. We’ll keep working hard.”
Paterson’s goal was setup by substitute Duane Holmes, capping another eye-catching cameo from the Academy graduate.
“It’s important that substitutes come on and make an impact, because it’s a squad game,” Martin continued.
“We all know how talented Duane is, but he’s only 19 and you have to be careful. If you use him too much and things don’t go well his head could drop and it could make things difficult. However, I think the fans here have an exciting time ahead of them, because I’d pay to watch him every week.
“When he comes on he sets goals up for fun and that’s tough; I don’t think I could come on in the hole and start creating chances! He shifts well and goes past people; there’s no doubt that he’s a good player. We just have to bring him through properly.
“It will be interesting to see if he can make that transition into the team in 2014. I’m sure he will, because he’s one hell of a player.”
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