David Wagner hailed his players’ attitude and adaptability as Huddersfield Town made the fifth round of the FA Cup for only the sixth time in 50 years.
Centre-back Michael Hefele came off the bench at the break to play the second half up front and scored twice in a 4-0 win at Rochdale.
His double followed an opener from debutant German striker Collin Quaner (42 minutes) and an Izzy Brown penalty (66) which ensured Championship promotion chasers Town avoided any slip-up against their League One opponents.
“The most important thing, and it was something we spoke about a lot before, was that we focused on ourselves,” said the head coach, whose side were also 4-0 winners, at home to Port Vale, in round three.
“The second most important thing was to be open to different circumstances, and this was different, especially the pitch.
“It wasn’t what we needed for our style and our identity. After 20 minutes we realised we wouldn’t be able to play our normal football.
“At half-time we were able to change the ideas of our game - in the second half we didn’t do what we normally do.
“It is what we have sometimes done shortly before the final whistle - long balls, play for second balls and set-pieces, a more British style if you like.
“It’s big credit to my players that they were able to immediately change the ideas of this game.
“We had the right FA Cup attitude. Work and fight and go against big hurdles, be proper Terriers.
“The result made it look easier than it was. Rochdale made this a tough tie for us.
“I don’t like the sentence you have to have a Plan B - but I loved this result!”
