Let’s hope Huddersfield Town being out of the bottom three in the Premier League right now doesn’t put them back in relaxed mode.
We all saw the reaction against Bournemouth , and it gives every Town fans massive hope for the 11 top-flight league games to come.
With so many teams involved in the relegation battle and so much at stake, it looks like the outcome could go to the very last weekend of the season.
I really do hope Town aren’t the ones who have to be part of a sudden-death situation on the final day of the campaign.
While it’s almost 20 years ago now, I still painfully remember that final day of the 2000/01 season when it seemed mathematically impossible for Town to go down, but somehow it happened.
A point would have been good enough for Town whatever happened elsewhere, while both Portsmouth and Crystal Palace had to win – and Palace were away to Stockport County.
Incredibly, we lost at home to play-off bound Birmingham, Portsmouth won easily at home against Barnsley and then – in an absolute nightmare – Palace scored a controversial last-minute winner at Stockport to send Town down.
Anyway, let’s hope Town can make the most of these upcoming league fixtures and avoid such a scenario – and I suppose the FA Cup this weekend can be treated as a nice distraction.
Although when you see a player of Aaron Mooy ’s stature go down injured like he did in the Bournemouth match, every Town fan in the world has to hold their breath and just hope it’s nothing too serious, because we need all our major players for the run-in this season.
Because of the fun Town have had in the Premier League so far, I am sure if you asked any supporter whether they would like a Cup run and possible Wembley appearance in the FA Cup or the chance to stay in the top division for another season and to build, I am sure they would opt for the Premier League status.
So Saturday’s tie is a free shot for Town and one we should all enjoy, but the reality is we have 11 Cup finals ahead of us and this assignment against Manchester United is probably an unnecessary distraction.
Town’s biggest positive this season – and David Wagner stresses it in every press conference – is the power of the team.
He celebrates the collective effort that comes from all 11 players, working for each other and creating the results accordingly.
With that in mind, disappointment is probably the understatement following Rajiv van La Parra’s comments that he wants to move to a bigger club (after helping Town survive).
We just don’t need any players who are not completely focused on the job.
If Aaron Mooy or Christopher Schindler were saying it I would be decidedly unhappy, because they have been two absolute diamonds of Town’s season.
Van La Parra wants to concentrate first of all on getting into the Town team and doing his very best – and then worrying whether Town want to keep him.
Let’s just say Dutch players never seem to be short of confidence, and I genuinely hope he proves me wrong by scoring half a dozen goals from now to the end of the season to help Town stay up.
If he does that, then I will doff my cap and say fair play, he deserves a move. But at the moment, on his performances, that simply isn’t the case.
He is not the first player to have a higher opinion of himself than perhaps many of the people who watch him, but that is part of the modern game and the status stars in the Premier League hold.
Back to the football, let’s all just enjoy Saturday’s game but, more importantly, get ready for the next league game at West Brom.
It may sound ridiculous, but the trip to The Hawthorns is absolutely huge for Town.
And, with West Brom six points from safety, it’s a game Town simply can’t afford to lose.
