Chris Powell wants Huddersfield Town to make best use of precious possession when they take on Spanish side Deportivo de La Coruna.
The John Smith’s Stadium clash on Wednesday night present’s Town with a chance to move on from warm-up defeats at Grimsby and Rochdale and answer questions about their defending as a team.
Keeping the ball will be a key to that against Victor Sanchez’s side, whose tour includes another match against Premier League Swansea City.
With La Liga not starting until August 23, Deportivo are in the early stages of their pre-season, but Powell has warned they’ll provide a stiff test for his squad, who have just one more friendly – at Barnsley on Saturday – before the Skybet Championship opener against Hull City on August 8.
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“We may be a week or two ahead of them I believe in the training programme pre-season, but they still have a lot of quality and will provide a big, big test in what is a showcase night for the club,” said Powell, who has welcomed strikers James Vaughan and Ishmael Miller back to full training.
“Deportivo will move the ball around and it will be a different kind of test, it won’t be like we get in the Championship.
“They really slow the game down and we have to adapt to that.
“Our aim will be to get it to Championship pace when we can and make it a tough night for them.”
So what’s the priority?
“We have to use the ball well, especially against teams who play like them,” answered the boss.
“Sides like Deportivo tend to keep possession well, so we don’t want to be giving it away too cheaply.
“I just hope the fans and the players enjoy the evening because it’s not too often that sides like Deportivo, from La Liga, grace West Yorkshire.”
