Grayson Reflects On Yorkshire Derby Stalemate

Grayson was left bemused after a blunder
from referee Mike Russell

In a game far from the excitement when both Huddersfield Town & Sheffield Wednesday met back at the start of the season, Simon Grayson has insisted that his team is on the right track after a goalless stalemate meant both teams shared the points on Saturday. Here is the terriers boss post match interview;

"We had to go back to being hard to beat and make sure that we didn’t give Sheffield Wednesday too many opportunities. The team we selected was one that could win the game, but also one that would make us more solid. The players haven’t won in a few games and aren’t playing with as much confidence as they were at the start of the season, so we have to be hard to beat and make sure that we don’t give away too many chances. We have got players who can hurt teams upfront such as Jermaine Beckford, James Vaughan, Adam Hammill and Sean Scannell."

"We may not have won in five, but we have only been beaten once in our last five games. We keep picking up points and we need to keep chipping away until we get that victory. The players worked harder today and showed a lot of commitment and I am sure that when we start winning games we will show more quality."

Grayson's team sheet was announced with striker James Vaughan left on the bench and the manager explained why this was the case;

"We didn’t want to put too much stress on James because he has only just returned from injury. He is also a booking away from missing Leicester and if he had got booked today it would leave us short upfront for that game. Sean Scannell also missed out because it has been a demanding week, but I thought Adam Hammill came in and gave us a spark in attack."

The first half of the game included the main talking point of the entire match as Mick Russell (the referee) flashed Jeremy Helan two yellow cards yet failed to send the player off. Huddersfield Town players were astonished as the referee waved his hands to continue the game play with Helan still on the field. Grayson was also furious on the sidelines as he confronted the fourth official but his shouts fell on death ears;

"He made a mistake. He has clearly shown Helan a yellow card and I think instead of writing his name in the book he has written Michail Antonio’s. How you can do that I don’t know? Everyone in the Ground knew what he had done. It was a difficult afternoon for the referee and he made some very poor decisions. Something like that should never happen; the referee has assistant referees to help him. It wasn’t just the referee who made the mistake it was all his assistants as well, it could have meant that we had lost the game. I don’t know why the fourth official has intervened and told the referee that he has made a mistake. He had a responsibility to help the referee." "I would have felt aggrieved if he had gone on to play a part, or score a goal for them. If we had played against ten men for an hour of the game we would have had a better chance of gaining a victory. It is disappointing that we have to talk about a decision the referee has made instead of the football that was played in an entertaining Yorkshire derby."