We spoke with Huddersfield Town manager Ashley Vickers, after his side gave their FA Premier League Northern Division survival hopes a big boost on Sunday, with a 7-2 win at Newcastle United.
SK: Did the measure of Sunday’s victory come as any surprise?
AV: I don’t think the victory came as a surprise to anyone involved with the club, I feel this sort of performance and result has been coming for the last month or so now. The last few games we have seen much improved performances from the squad and I would say we were a little unlucky to lose away at Bradford but after the game the players were upbeat because of the way we actually played. 
SK: Has it been a difficult time with seven defeats in nine games?
AV: It has been difficult at times but I’ve got a great group to work with and we’ve been lucky enough to add some quality to the squad. We’ve struggled a lot with injuries, with no less than six defenders missing from the start of the season. We haven’t let this get us down and a lot of the players have had to play out of position but I have nothing but praise for the team and the attitude they show week in, week out.
SK: Do you feel the win went a long way toward securing your safety?
AV; I didn’t look at the win as three points towards safety but more of a benchmark and catalyst of how we expect to finish the season, I want the players to challenge themselves to take maximum points from the final five games. I’m a firm believer in not looking further than the next game, so that win has now gone and we now look to the trip to Loughborough [Foxes] next weekend. It’s all about our attitude and performances.
SK: Can you put your finger on what went wrong after the opening five league games, when results seemed much better?
AV: I don’t think it was down to one particular thing, it was an accumulation of a number of different factors. Losing players to injury is never great for a team and it seemed to hit us hard at the wrong time. Glen Preston, the previous manager stepped down in October after a difficult period which didn’t help but those things happen in football. Since taking over from Glen, I’ve had Baz Arjomand come into to assist me and we’ve had a great response from the players and this coupled with the arrival of four or five new players helped us rebuild. We have also reached the {Sheffield & Hallam] County Cup final which has come as a great distraction from our poor league position.
SK: How come your goal tally is so much better than all those beneath you?
AV: Even last season we were one of the leading scorers in the league and that’s been the same this year. We have the league’s leading scorer in Emily Heckler, who knows where the net is. We pride ourselves on playing attacking free-flowing football and this is evident in the amount of goals we do score. We aim to go into every game looking to play this way and we won’t change our philosophy no matter what team we come up against.
Huddersfield Town meet North East League title hopefuls Barnsley in the final of the Sheffield & Hallamshire Cup on Wednesday April 13th at Parkgate FC, kick-off 7.30pm.
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