Old boy Jack Hunt has questioned whether Huddersfield Town and new head coach David Wagner can make full-throttle football work in the Championship.
The German is determined to haul his side away from the relegation places using high-pressing and quick-reaction tactics .
Town, above the drop zone only on goals scored, face third-placed Middlesbrough in Wagner’s first home match on Saturday.
The new system was on show at Sheffield Wednesday, where Town lost 3-1 after leading through Sean Scannell but conceding late in the game.
And right-back Hunt, on loan to the South Yorkshire side from Crystal Palace, said: “They played a high-pressing game but it’s impossible to do it for 90 minutes.
“I thought they were very good for the first 60 but when we scored our first goal (in the 78th minute) there was only going to be one outcome.”
Hunt, who came through Town’s academy and made 121 appearances for the first-team before a £2m switch to Palace in 2013, added: “I think you could tell they were all playing for a new manager.
“They all had a bit of a spring in their step, they were working at a plan they are not normally used to and you could say it shook us up a little bit.
“But when we did get hold of it I thought we really took the game to them and they couldn’t really play out like they were doing in the first half.”
Hunt might have been a Wembley hero for Town as Sheffield United were beaten in the League I play-off final back in 2012.
But he angered a section of supporters after Saturday’s clash by describing beating his first club as “the best feeling ever”.
Town v SWFC
He added: “I love beating them, I absolutely love it.”Asked why it was so special, he would only say: “I just enjoyed it – I’ll leave it at that.”
Wagner, who is without forward Harry Bunn through suspension against Boro, is working hard to improve Town’s fitness levels.
Boro will be without skipper Grant Leadbitter through suspension for a game which will be refereed by Eddie Ilderton (Tyne and Wear).
They are confident of extending the loan of Manchester City’s Bruno Zuculini so that he can take Leadbitter’s midfield slot.
Experienced whistler Ilderton last refereed a Town game when Brentford were beaten 2-1 at the John Smith’s last December.
It will be his 14th game of the current campaign.
