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OLD foe John Ward saluted Town for testing his Colchester United side to the limit in an entertaining goalless draw.

The jovial ex-Bristol Rovers chief, who has always spoken highly of the Galpharm club, feels the Us answered some of his doubts about their own make-up..

A second-half rearguard action earned a point and Ward said: “There was a real question over my team about how they’d handle a strong side like Huddersfield.

“And I think they did okay. I was very pleased with their attitude and approach. We even had a few chances ourselves as we got stronger near the end.

“I’m not suggesting we deserved to win. Both sides had chances. It was one of those nil-nils. It could’ve finished 3-3 and if that had happened people would be raving about the game.”

On Town’s performance he added: “We knew Huddersfield would be smarting from their disappointment at Carlisle last Tuesday.

“We were ready for Lee (Clark) to pick a positive team and he certainly did that. I don’t think he could’ve picked a more positive side.

“We had to be at the races from 10 seconds past three o’clock because they came at us in a frenzy. And we had to weather that for a long time.

“There was one moment in the first half when (Anthony) Pilkington turned past (Ben) Coker and I shut my eyes. I didn’t want to know what was coming next.

“It’s a good job Coker didn’t react like that. Pilkington showed a fantastic first touch and cut inside. But Coker just managed to recover the situation.”

Ward is, of course, well remembered by Town fans for the club’s duels with his Marcus Stewart-led Bristol Rovers side in the mid-1990s.

The teams slugged it out for promotion back then, with Town coming out on top in a famous Wembley play-off final success.

Now Ward is at it again with a Colchester squad handily placed for a promotion run and he added: “There’s 14 teams in the race if you talk to different managers.

“We’ve a chance, but I’m not shouting about it. There’s plenty of clubs, like Huddersfield, who are bigger than us, but we keep trying.”

On Colchester’s record of never having won in Huddersfield in 11 visits Ward joked: “I need to be given a chance!

“This was only my first time here with Colchester.

“I wasn’t here last season when Aidy (Boothroyd) was in charge. I was away scouting. So I can’t be blamed for that or the other nine results!”

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