A key battle at the bottom end of the Championship table will take place at the John Smith's Stadium on Saturday, as Huddersfield Town entertain Plymouth Argyle on the return to league action.

The hosts currently sit 21st with just a three-point lead over the relegation zone, while their visitors are four better off in 18th spot under the new management of Ian Foster.

Match preview

Huddersfield Town will return to Championship action on home turf at the weekend with the aim of bouncing back to form, having been dragged closer to the relegation zone in the midst of a difficult run of form in recent months.

After 26 league outings, Darren Moore occupy 21st spot with just 25 points on the board, having only added four points to that tally in the last six attempts to see their cushion in the fight for survival reduced, firstly suffering defeats to Norwich City and Preston North End either side of a draw with Millwall.

The Terriers did then manage a fifth league win of the season on Boxing Day, beating Blackburn Rovers 3-0 on home turf thanks to goals from Jaheim Headley, Sorba Thomas and Delano Burgzorg, but they were unable to build an improved run on the back of that and now head into the weekend on the back of three further defeats on the bounce.

Darren Moore's side firstly fell to a 2-1 loss at home to Middlesbrough and suffered a 4-1 beating away at league leaders Leicester City, with Michal Helik goals not enough to earn them a result in either, before most recently facing a daunting trip to Manchester City in the FA Cup third round at the weekend and bowing out following a 5-0 thrashing as Phil Foden netted a brace alongside goals from Julian Alvarez and Jeremy Doku and Ben Jackson's own goal.

With their focus now fully back on England's second tier, having quickly seen their lead over the improving bottom three reduced to just three points, Huddersfield Town will be desperate to bounce back to winning ways in West Yorkshire on Saturday with the chance to move further clear of the drop zone and within a point of their visitors.

Their opponents, meanwhile, will aim to make it two wins from two under their new boss and extend that gap to Saturday's hosts and the bottom three further.

After winning promotion from the third tier last time around, Plymouth Argyle marked their return to the Championship by picking up 26 points from their first 22 outings, only for manager Steven Schumacher to depart for Stoke City soon before Christmas.

Neil Dewsnip then took over on a temporary basis at Home Park, and the Pilgrims would drop further into the fight at the bottom end of the division as they failed to pick up a victory from four attempts around the festive period, firstly playing out 3-3 and 2-2 draws with Birmingham City and Cardiff City respectively before falling to a 2-1 defeat in a tough trip to Southampton.

Watford then visited Home Park on New Year's Day and the sides shared the points in a 3-3 draw, despite the hosts going 2-1 up through Finn Azaz and Morgan Whittaker and 3-2 ahead through Ryan Hardie, before the hierarchy turned to Ian Foster to take over last week.

His tenure began with a 3-1 home triumph over fourth-tier Sutton United in the FA Cup third round on Saturday, thanks to goals from Luke Cundle, Hardie and Whittaker, and they will now aim to make it back-to-back victories and a return to winning ways in the Championship under their new boss with the aim of improving on their current standing in 18th place and extending their seven-point lead over the bottom three with 20 league outings to go.

Team News

Huddersfield Town will continue to deal with somewhat of an injury crisis on Saturday, with enforced absences all over the pitch as goalkeeper Chris Maxwell, defenders Matty Pearson, Josh Ruffels, Oliver Turton and Jaheim Headley, midfielder Jonathan Hogg and attackers Delano Burgzorg, Danny Ward and Kian Harratt all expected to remain confined to the treatment room, while David Kasumu also missed their trip to Manchester City.

In the absence of Burgzorg, who has been a key man going forward recent, contributing four goals and an assist in his last seven Championship appearances, Bojan Radulovic will likely be handed a first start up front following his January arrival from HJK Helsinki, with Josh Koroma likely joining him up front and allowing Sorba Thomas to operate from out wide.

Elsewhere, fellow January signing Alex Matos should again join Ben Wiles and Jack Rudoni in the midfield in Hogg's absence, while key man Michal Helik, who leads their scoring charts with seven goals this term, should feature at the heart of a back three alongside Rarmani Edmonds-Green and Tom Lees if Pearson is unable to return to fitness in time to start at the weekend.

Plymouth Argyle will remain without first-choice goalkeeper Michael Cooper through injury, while their squad has taken two major hits in the January transfer window, with Finn Azaz and Luke Cundle recalled from loan spells by Aston Villa and Wolverhampton Wanderers respectively.

In Cooper's absence, Conor Hazard will again deputise between the sticks, while Ian Foster will likely switch to a back three for his first league game at the helm, with Lewis Gibson and Julio Pleguezuelo expected to come in and join Dan Scarr.

Without Cundle and Azaz, Jordan Houghton and Adam Randell will likely partner up in the engine room with Callum Wright operating in a more advanced role, while key men Ryan Hardie and Morgan Whittaker are bound to again feature up front having notched up eight and 13 Championship goals respectively so far this term, while Whittaker also boasts five assists.

Huddersfield Town possible starting lineup:
Nicholls; Lees, Helik, Edmonds-Green; Thomas, Matos, Rudoni, Wiles, Jackson; Koroma, Radulovic

Plymouth Argyle possible starting lineup:
Hazard; Pleguezuelo, Scarr, Gibson; Kesler-Hayden, Houghton, Randell, Mumba; Wright; Whittaker, Hardie

We say: Huddersfield Town 1-1 Plymouth Argyle

We anticipate a tight and hard-fought encounter on Saturday between two sides hit by different issues heading into the second half of the season.

Huddersfield are without a long list of their key players, while the visitors will still be feeling the loss of Schumacher, Cundle and Azaz, and both desperate to avoid what would be a harmful defeat, we anticipate a low-scoring draw in West Yorkshire.


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