Thumping win caps off week in Portugal
Huddersfield Town capped off a week of hard work in Portugal with a comprehensive 4-1 win over Segunda Divisao side SC Portimonense on Saturday evening.
Joe Lolley – playing centrally – opened the scoring in the 11th minute, collecting a cross from the left from Paul Dixon with his back to goal before spinning neatly and firing home.
Midfielder Adam Clayton netted Town’s second from the penalty spot in the 26th minute after striker Nahki Wells was brought down before James Vaughan netted a trademark overhead kick from Dixon’s throw-in.
The fourth goal was netted by Swedish trialist Markus Holgersson on the hour mark; the former New York Red Bulls and Wigan Athletic centre back turning the ball home inside a crowded penalty area
Home side Portimonense netted a consolation with 11 minutes to go.
Speaking to htafc.com after the game, Manager Mark Robins commented:
“Everybody’s come through the game unscathed. Some players played fewer minutes than others and those players will feature at Guiseley on Monday night. It will be a strong side and squad at Guiseley.
“It’s been a good week in Portugal; very interesting. We’ve had some decent training and spent good time together; it’s been good to get everybody together and see how everyone interacts. There have clearly been some good performances on the pitch as well.
“It’s good to be scoring early on (the First Team has netted 10 in three pre-season friendlies so far) but the focus here has been on getting a pattern to our play and minutes in the legs of the players in order to get everyone up to speed as quickly as we can. We’ve still only just started – we have another three weeks yet.
“Next week back at PPG Canalside will be another key seven days for us as we get more work into the players’ legs. They’ve been very, very good this week, but we’ll step up the workload now.”
On Markus Holgersson, Mark added:
“This was a good opportunity to look at Markus and he’s done nothing wrong. He’s a not a youngster – he’s 29 – and we have to make a decision on whether he can perform in the Championship on a consistent basis.”
Town’s team (3-5-2):
Joe Murphy; Murray Wallace, Lee Peltier (Tommy Smith), Markus Holgersson (Joel Lynch); Paul Dixon (Jake Carroll), Adam Clayton (Matt Crooks), Joe Lolley (Harry Bunn), Jonathan Hogg, Adam Hammill (Jordan Sinnott); James Vaughan (Martin Paterson), Nahki Wells
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