Confidence at Huddersfield appears to be growing under head coach Carlos Corberan after they produced an impressive performance to inflict Millwall’s first home defeat of the season.
Despite his team suffering late heartbreak at Birmingham in midweek, Corberan had been impressed with the Terriers’ display in the second half.
After taking the lead through Josh Koroma, they were again stronger after the break and had several chances to put the game to bed before a late flurry gave the scoreline a more realistic look.
Corberan said: “I think sometimes when you get the good result, you are thinking it is one of the best performances, but for me the second half the other day was brilliant, against Birmingham.
“There was also the second half against Rotherham where we also did really well, but today was a very positive performance – it was one against a very strong team that is very tough.
“For me, the thing that made me especially proud of the players was the personality that they had today, the personality in the way they played in the second half.
“I think the team showed in some moments a very good performance – I think from minute seven to minute 35 we dominated the first half and created some chances.
“We had to feel that we could retake control of the game – it was something really important because if you don’t take control of the game, you are going to suffer.
“The second half was a clear improvement of the team because we played with a little bit more personality.”
Huddersfield went ahead after 18 minutes when Adama Diakhaby’s cut-back was guided into the net by Koroma, with the aid of a slight deflection.
It was in the 89th minute when the Terriers finally made the game safe, as Bartosz Bialkowski parried Pipa’s effort into the air, with the ball dropping over the line.
There was still time for Lewis O’Brien to steer in a third in stoppage time after he was teed up by Juninho Bacuna.
Monday’s return of manager Gary Rowett after a positive coronavirus test will come at a good time after a disappointing afternoon for Millwall, whose first-team coaching staff were again all absent.
Club captain Alex Pearce finished his week in charge alongside Shaun Williams and Kevin Nugent by being brought swiftly back to earth after Wednesday’s win at Preston.
Pearce said: “We’re bitterly disappointed. I felt that we started the game very slowly, the first 15 minutes especially.
“We didn’t come out of the blocks at all, totally the opposite to Wednesday night, to be honest.
“We didn’t move the ball, they scored a good goal, but then we came into the game and we actually got a foothold in it.
“I was pleased with the way we were playing towards the end of the first half, just moving it with more intensity, the way we were pressing, the way we were passing the ball and more on the front foot.
“I was pleased with the way that we responded to the goal and I thought we had a go in the second half, without causing them any real difficulty at the back.
“That’s the other disappointing thing from today; that it was our end product where we let ourselves down.”
