David Wagner has insisted that Huddersfield can still beat the drop, even though their 2-1 defeat to Burnley left them on just 10 points after their opening 21
90 Min | Jan 3, 2019
David Wagner has insisted that Huddersfield can still beat the drop, even though their 2-1 defeat to Burnley left them on just 10 points after their opening 21 Premier League games.
Steve Mounie opened the scoring for the Terriers at the John Smith's Stadium in a game you felt was must win, only for Burnley to hit back and snatch all three points thanks to goals from Chris Wood and Ashley Barnes.
No Premier League team has ever managed to stay up having claimed so few points at this stage of the season, but Wagner still believes that there is hope for his side – even though they are eight points adrift of safety.
"We gave ourselves a schedule of what we have to do until the end of the season," he told Sky Sports.
"Obviously today was disappointing because we didn't get any points and we know the statistic that no team has ever stayed up with 10 points from 21 games.
"But we have beaten statistics before with Huddersfield Town and we still have the aim and ambition [to stay up]. We know what we have to do. We have to accept this result, but we will move forward.
"The table tells you the truth and the truth is that at this stage of the season we have lost eight games in a row."
Wednesday night's game was hotly contested and saw each team have a player sent off. Unfortunately for Huddersfield, Christopher Schindler's first half red had a much larger impact on the game than Burnley midfielder Robbie Brady's dismissal, which came in the dying embers of the match.
Wagner ultimately had no complaints about the refereeing decisions, but confessed it was a significant moment in the game. He did, however, praise the attitude of his players following Schlinder's dismissal.
"We started well and too the lead, but Chris Schindler's red card – which i think was the correct decision – is a big moment." he added.
"The commitment, effort and attitude which the players have shown was absolute. They fought but unfortunately playing more than one half [with 10 men] is very difficult to deal with.
"We took the lead and scored our first goal from a striker. I have seen a lot of good things today but obviously we weren't able to keep the tempo and speed as high as when we played 11 v 11."