David Wagner sure of Huddersfield survival despite 'disappointing' Newcastle defeat

Saturday 31 March 2018 19:44, UK

Huddersfield boss David Wagner cut a bullish figure after defeat to Newcastle, insisting he had "no concerns" that his side would accrue enough points to survive.

Ayoze Perez's 80th-minute winner in a crunch relegation clash eased Newcastle's fears but kept Huddersfield in danger, just three points above the drop zone.

Though the hosts spurned a series of chances before they finally made the breakthrough, Huddersfield might have snatched a late leveller through Scott Malone.

Wagner said that would have been deserved and the German manager insisted he had seen enough qualities in his side to convince him they will preserve their top-flight status.

"It's a disappointing result but it was a good defensive performance from my team," he told Sky Sports.

"They've shown exactly the attitude, the hunger, the desire to fight for at least a point. We sat deeper and tried to play on the counter-attack and in the second half it worked very well. They had no chances and we had the best ones.

"Unfortunately we lost but everything I've seen defensively from my players was very good. We weren't able to score and that's the reason we've not taken any points.

"It's important to manage defeats. For sure that one hurts. It's a difficult place to come but what I've seen from my players - the effort, attitude, the fighting spirit - I've no concerns about collecting the points we need to survive."

Huddersfield have failed to score in four consecutive league games for the first time since 2002 and have now drawn a blank in 12 separate away games in the Premier League this season.

But Wagner shrugged off the stats, saying: "It makes no sense to split the season in the last 12 games - it's the whole season.

"We can read our stats - we are not the team which has scored the most goals in the league, this is true - but in the last few matches we have created enough opportunities."