Huddersfield's injury crisis for Sunderland match as Darren Moore explains challenges after Southampton draw

Huddersfield were only able to name seven substitutes for Saturday’s fixture against Southampton - after Terriers boss Darren Moore was forced to change his starting XI due to injury setbacks.

Goalkeeper Lee Nicholls was forced to pull out of the squad on Friday with a neck injury, while striker Danny Ward (illness) and midfielder Ben Wiles (hamstring) were also late withdrawals, joining defender Josh Ruffels and forward Kyle Hudlin on the sidelines.

Despite the setbacks, Huddersfield came from a goal down to draw 1-1 with Southampton at the John Smith’s Stadium following Ben Jackson’s equaliser three minutes from time. That goal came after forward Kian Harratt was forced off with what looked like a hamstring injury in the first half.

The Terriers will now prepare for Wednesday’s trip to Sunderland, with Moore hoping for a smoother build-up for the game at the Stadium of Light. 

“We had a massive shift in the pack within 24 hours to get that news,” said Moore when discussing the late withdrawals against Southampton. “That was difficult, really, going against the adversity to manage that.”

Huddersfield did welcome Josh Koroma and David Kasumu back into their starting XI following injury setbacks, while Delano Burgzorg returned to the bench. Jack Rudoni, Ollie Turton and Patrick Jones remained among the squad’s injury absentees though.

“That's why the result is a special result for us,” Moore added. “In terms of dealing with the adversity in terms of what we had to do with managing the players, that meant there were players that had to come in and players on the pitch that could only have a certain amount of minutes on the pitch.”