David Wagner wants Huddersfield Town to keep the clean-sheet habit when they head to Oldham Athletic for their second pre-season friendly on Saturday.
The new-look Championship side blanked National League Guiseley in their opening warm-up game last Wednesday, when recent recruits Joel Coleman and Luke Coddington were each between the posts for 45 minutes in a match settled by Sean Scannell’s shot.
Wagner’s side shipped nine goals in their final two games of last season, when Aston Villa loanee Jed Steer was the regular stopper.
Over the whole of 2015/16, which started with Chris Powell at the helm, Town conceded 70 times in 46 games.
It’s a tally Wagner, who is closing in on a season-long loan move for Liverpool’s Wales international keeper Danny Ward, is keen to improve.
So he was happy with the defensive display at Guiseley.
And he wants another clean sheet at Oldham, from whom Town bought 20-year-old Coleman for £100,000 early last month.
“Of course friendlies don’t bring any points,” said the head coach.
“But any time you have the kit on, you want to win the match.
“Then if you can win, you also want to keep a clean sheet.
“We managed that at Guiseley and it will also be the aim when we go to Oldham.”
Wagner plans to hand a debut to Aaron Mooy, the Australian international midfielder signed on a season-long loan from Manchester City, at SportsDirect.Com Park.
Slovenian centre-back Jon Gorenc Stankovic, signed for £600,000 from Borussia Dortmund on Friday, could also feature.
