Huddersfield Town's 2014/2015 season gets back underway this weekend as the Terriers welcome Middlesbrough to the John Smith's Stadium for what will be Chris Powell's first game in charge of the club.

Powell is looking to get off the mark quickly with his new charges and a home game against a side placed just five positions and two points above the Terriers could be considered the perfect opportunity to claim maximum points at the John Smith's Stadium for the first time since March 1.

Town went down 4-2 in a thriller at high-flying Watford just before the international break in a game which was indicative of their season so far, as they controlled a lot of the play but were let down by some slack defending against one of the Championship's top strikeforces.

The corresponding fixture between the two teams last season finished 2-2, with Town twice having leads snatched away from them by lively winger Albert Adomah, who struck twice to cancel out earlier efforts from Adam Hammill and Nahki Wells.

Conceding goals is a problem which has spilled over into this term, with four of Town's seven fixtures so far seeing the opposition side plunder three goals or more, something which has to be halted against Boro.

But the Teessiders will hope to improve defensive and general form of their own after back-to-back league defeats, culminating in a 1-0 home loss to Reading a fortnight ago.

Powell has injuries to contend with on his Town managerial debut, but could welcome back Lee Peltier back into the fold after the defender took part in various first-team training sessions during the international interval.

New addition Mark Hudson can expect to slot straight into the heart of the backline but Tommy Smith is expected to miss out alongside fellow defensive colleague Anthony Gerrard, while Jonathan Hogg, Oscar Gobern, Joe Lolley and Martin Paterson are all sidelined once more.

Examiner predicted Huddersfield Town starting XI v Watford:

Smithies; Peltier, Hudson, Lynch, Robinson; Hammill, Butterfield, Coady, Scannell; Vaughan, Wells.

Compared with our predicted XI, the fans' own team selection shows just one change with Harry Bunn, who has been in good goalscoring form of late, preferred to Adam Hammill.

It remains to be seen whether Powell will opt for such a cavalier formation, but given his praise for Sean Scannell this week and Bunn's two goals already this term, the fans' XI could well come true, with the only other issues being whether Hudson should automatically replace Murray Wallace and whether or not to field Paul Dixon at left-back.

 

Despite a fairly unanimous backing for Joe Murphy in goal when choosing their side for the Watford game, Alex Smithies is back in the fans' starting XI with 67.19% of the vote to 31.25% for the No.2 shot-stopper.

Right-back was fairly more convincing, with some 76.92% of supporters opting for the seemingly fit-again Peltier over the 23.08% who went for Smith, with this area also representing an about-turn from fans on their selection for the clash with the Hornets two weeks ago.

New acquisition Hudson was the big winner in this vote, securing a huge 80% - the biggest total for any one player in one vote.

Joel Lynch was chosen as his partner with an equally impressive 55.38%, while only Wallace (18.46%) and Gerrard (10.77%) were deemed viable alternative options.

Paul Dixon has endured a tough start to the season and that was reflected in just 27.69% of fans choosing him for the left-back berth.

Jack Robinson, who was deployed in an unorthodox right-sided role in defence at Watford, has clearly won the minds of the fanbase already, because he was to the taste of 72.31% of those who voted.

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The right flank was surprisingly not as clear-cut as first thought, with Scannell winning the contest between himself, Hammill and the injured Joe Lolley with 56.92% while the latter duo were tied on 21.54%.

Each week, central midfield is becoming more and more straightforward for fans and this one was like no other as Jacob Butterfield and Conor Coady took their places in the starting lineup.

Butterfield was the marginal favourite in that he accrued more votes across the two central midfield options, but they were level pegging in terms of the individual vote on 60% apiece.

Radoslaw Majewski - who started last time out at Vicarage Road - was the only other central option to gain more than one vote at 7.69%.

Each of the five left-sided wing options received at least one vote but it was the only one to score in the league so far in Bunn who prevailed with 35.38% in a close-run thing.

His nearest competitor was actually Scannell with 23.08% - presumably those who voted for Hammill or Lolley to take their place on the other side of the pitch.

The core of the team seems to be largely decided upon by fans, with the full-back and wing positions proving the most fluctuational of the lot.

That is no different up front, where James Vaughan and Nahki Wells monopolised the votes once more.

Mark Lillis opted for Majewski over a two-man strikeforce at Watford but Town are keen to see Vaughan and Wells working in tandem.

The former was a slight favourite, with 75.38% hoping to see him gain a second successive league start while Wells received 72.31%.

The 64.35% of fans that voted for the 4-4-2 formation are obviously hoping it results in the strike duo lining up alongside one another and delivering the goods.

Huddersfield Town fans' starting XI v Watford:

Smithies; Peltier, Hudson, Lynch, Robinson; Scannell, Butterfield, Coady, Bunn; Wells, Vaughan.