Huddersfield Town's Jon Stead is primed and ready to start for Town against Charlton tonight and confident he’ll soon be back on the scoresheet for his hometown club.
The 30-year-old frontman was an impressive substitute in Saturday’s goalless draw against Doncaster Rovers – his fifth appearance from the bench since rejoining Town from Bristol City in the summer.
It could well earn him the chance to partner James Vaughan and make a first start of the campaign in blue and white stripes as Town bid to maintain their unbeaten home sequence against Chris Powell’s side, who were beaten 3-2 in the Capital One Cup at the John Smith’s back in August.
“The manager is keeping his cards very close to his chest as to what the starting line-up will be, but we’ve got six or seven games in the next 21 days so I’m sure he’ll look to utilise the squad and everyone will get an opportunity,” said Stead.
“It’s massively important that we keep going well at home and we are making it difficult for teams to come and play at the John Smith’s, so we’ve just got to keep believing in what we are doing and we’ll be fine.
“There was disappointment that we didn’t make the most of our chances against Doncaster but now we’ve got another opportunity to continue the positive trend at home and try and get another three points.”
Stead says there is massive belief in the Canalside squad about what can be achieved this season and that manager Robins is drumming his passing philosophy into the players.
“There is a real belief in the way we are playing and the manager is encouraging us to be confident in each other to have the ball and move it,” explained the striker.
“We are getting there. I think we started the season very well and maybe the last couple of games have been a bit of a stumbling block, but perhaps that is to be expected because this is not the way Huddersfield Town have traditionally gone about things.
“We’ve been told to trust each other and support each other and there is a resilience in the squad that we can make an impact.”
So how pleased has he been with his own performances?
“It’s good to be back playing and the more games I play the better I will get,” he answered. “I am happy if I’m making a contribution and the team are doing well – that’s the most important thing – but goalscoring chances will come the more games I play and hopefully I can perform and give the manager a few problems on selection.”
