Huddersfield Town points target set as next run of Championship fixtures approaches

Neil Warnock doesn’t particularly seem to believe in going down the fixture list working out how many points he expects his side to get in each game, but that’s not going to stop us from doing exactly that.

Huddersfield Town have already played their first September and won it, of course, with Warnock’s side returning from West Bromwich Albion with their first three points of the season in their luggage last weekend.

Here’s how the month’s remaining fixtures shake out and where we feel the ambitions for each fixture ought to lie, assuming for now that a fair goal for this season would be to spend the campaign ensconced in mid-table and finish on something like 60 points.

Huddersfield Town vs Rotherham United, Saturday September 16

Rotherham’s Championship season so far: 20th – 4 points – Lost 4-1 at Stoke, drew 2-2 vs Blackburn, lost 2-1 at Sunderland, lost 1-2 vs Leicester, won 2-1 vs Norwich.

Like Town, the Millers were handed a tough fixture list and got off to a winless start to the season with some decent performances after their heavy opening-day defeat not rewarded with points before they signed off before the international break with a 2-1 win.

Both sides will see the clash at the John Smith's Stadium as something of a more accurate litmus test of their capabilities, but the home advantage means that Town really should be looking to claim the full three points; they can’t really make an excuse of the fixture list then fail to win their home games against the sides around them. Points target: 3 points.

Huddersfield Town vs Stoke City, Wednesday September 20

Stoke’s Championship season so far: 16th – 6 points – Won 4-1 vs Rotherham, lost 2-0 at Ipswich, won 1-0 vs Watford, lost 1-0 at Millwall, lost 0-2 vs Preston.

In reality, six points from these back-to-back home games may be over-ambitious and four points between the two would be basically fine. Taken in isolation, though, they’re both winnable: Alex Neil’s side remain very up and down having been streakier than American bacon last season. Points target: 3 points, though 1 may prove palatable if other objectives are met.

Coventry City vs Huddersfield Town, Monday September 25

Coventry’s Championship season so far: 14th – 6 points – Lost 2-1 at Leicester, won 3-0 vs Middlesbrough, drew 1-1 at Swansea, drew 0-0 vs Sunderland, drew 3-3 vs Watford.

Mark Robins’ side could have got more out of their opening-day derby away to Leicester City but failed to put their chances away, and they have been a bit all-or-nothing in front of goal since then having lost Gustavo Hamer and Viktor Gyokeres in the summer…though Matt Godden has stepped up with four goals in six games in all competition.

Coventry have deservedly earned a reputation as a hard-working side who are difficult to beat, even if they’re not necessarily winning – there’s a reason they were a penalty shootout away from becoming a Premier League side. A draw on the road in front of the Sky Sports cameras would be more than acceptable for Town. Points target: 1 point.

Huddersfield Town vs Ipswich Town, Saturday September 30

Ipswich’s Championship season so far: 3rd – 12 points – Won 1-2 at Sunderland, won 2-0 vs Stoke, won 0-1 at QPR, lost 3-4 vs Leeds, won 3-2 vs Cardiff.

The League One runners-up have started the season in blistering form with their loss in a seven-goal thriller against Leeds the only blot on their Championship record so far. Without taking anything away from them, though, Ipswich have arguably not had the toughest of starts and had to come from two goals behind to win at home to Cardiff: admirable, but at least hints towards a certain level of fallibility.

As it stands, one point feels like it would be fine for Town if they’ve already claimed the seven we’ve set for them in the previous three games – but Ipswich’s results against Sheffield Wednesday, Southampton and Blackburn in the interim may change the complexion on that a bit. Points target: TBA: need to see how the two sides get on in the interim, but 1 point may well be OK.

Final verdict

Eight points from the next four games feels like a fair and realistic target (not a prediction, mind you, but a target), but seven points would still put Town more or less on track to finish the season comfortably clear of trouble with something approaching 60 points. Anything less than that would be a concern; anything more, very commendable.