David Wagner is going back to the future as he plots progress for Huddersfield Town.

But rather than heading for 1955 like Marty McFly and Doc Brown in the famous film, the head coach is taking inspiration from 1969 – in a roundabout way.

Wagner’s use of the term “Terrier identity” as he spoke ahead of the Championship clash with Bristol City at the John Smith’s Stadium harked back to Ian Greaves, the last man to lead a Town side to promotion from the second tier.

While Greaves built a side around the likes of Frank Worthington, Trevor Cherry and Jimmy Nicholson, newly-installed Town promotions officer Bill Brook coined the Terriers nickname as part of an innovative rebrand of the club.

Ian Greaves
Ian Greaves

A red terrier adorned Town’s famous blue and white stripes and newly-adopted ‘continental’ style red and black away kit and a real version of the dog, family pet Skippy, from Honley, became the match day mascot.

On the pitch, Town played liked Terriers, snapping at the heels of the opposition, out-running them, and firing in the goals as they memorably clinched promotion as champions of the original Division II in 1970.

Wagner has things in common with the late Greaves, not least his eye for organisation and detail and liking for super-fitness and sheer hard work as the base for any gameplan.

Like Wagner, Greaves put his players through intense training sessions while paying close attention to man-management and forging a strong team spirit through training camps and pre-match get togethers.

Huddersfield Town training session at PPG Canalside - Head Coach David Wagner
Huddersfield Town training session at PPG Canalside - Head Coach David Wagner

The parallels are intriguing, and Wagner’s long-term aim is also to take Town to the top flight, but the German is not getting carried away on the back of one win, at his third attempt, at Birmingham City, where Greaves’ Town drew 2-2 in their promotion season.

“We have made first steps, but I don’t have feeling anyone is satisfied,” explained Wagner. “We are still at the beginning of our way.

“It’s good to have played three games, because we can analyse ourselves, look at clips of the games we have played. It is then easier to understand what you have to change.”

There will be no deviation from Wagner’s preferred tactics.

“The key points are clear and we call it Terriers identity, which has created in the last four weeks,” he said. “We look for passion, full-throttle football, playing on the ground (as opposed to an aerial game), being very good in creating reactive pressure and having a good transition game.

“All the squad have these points in mind, and we have to develop them and bring them to the pitch for the full 90 minutes.

“I think the Terriers name is perfect, because they are what we want to be like.

“At the moment, I don’t think we are fun to play against, and we have to keep it that way.”

Town have a midweek match for the first time since Wagner’s arrival when they host Rotherham United on Tuesday, and that could signal a degree of squad rotation by the German.

“We have a few players who looked a little tired after the last game,” admitted the coach.

“This is normal and we have to be careful because we will need everyone over the next few weeks.

“As always, we will take a close look at the players during training and find the right selection for a fresh team.”

Centre-back Joel Lynch is one who could come into contention as he works his way back after a hamstring injury.

The former Nottingham Forest man has yet to feature under the head coach and last played at Reading on November 3.