Form
Huddersfield Town finished last season in 10th place in League One, three places and 11 points behind Reading. This season marks their second straight season in the third tier, having been relegated from the Championship during the 2023/24 campaign after finishing 23rd.
The Terriers still hold hopes of challenging for a playoff place, currently sitting 10th, four places and four points off Reading, who hold the final playoff place in sixth. Huddersfield’s recent form has been poor, seeing one win,
two draws and two losses in their last five league matches.
Their home form has been much better than their away though, with the Terriers picking up 39 out of their 57 points at the Accu Stadium. They come into Friday’s game off the back of a 3-1 away defeat to Plymouth Argyle.
The two sides last met in Reading’s first home game of the season, back in August, with Huddersfield claiming a 0-2 away win after goals from Jack Whatmough and Cameron Ashia.
The boss
Interim: Martin Drury and Jon Stead: Huddersfield manager Liam Manning was granted compassionate leave for the remainder of the season last week, with coaches Martin Drury and John Stead taking charge for their final seven games.
Manning was appointed Huddersfield boss in January, following the sacking of Lee Grant, who lasted eight months in charge. Drury joined Manning as assistant manager, with former Town striker Stead also joining his coaching team, returning to the team for whom he made 77 appearances.
Squad
Huddersfield signed six players during the winter transfer window with three joining on permanent deals and three coming in on loan.
Their permanent additions were goalkeepers Jak Alnwick and Nik Tzanev, who joined from Cardiff City and Newport County respectively, while winger Bali Mumba was bought from League One rivals Plymouth for an undisclosed fee.
Those joining on loan were Ipswich Town midfielder Cameron Humphreys and forwards Bobby Wales and Ryan Hardie, who signed from Swansea City and Wrexham.
A number of first-team players are expected to miss out on this Friday’s game through injury, including goalkeeper Lee Nicholls, defenders Joe Low and Radinio Balker and forwards Bojan Radulovic and Ryan Hardie.
Predicted lineup
Alnwick, Feeney, Wallace, Roughan, Gooch, Mumba, Ledson, Humphreys, Harness, Evans, May
Key player
3. Murray Wallace: Defender Wallace joined Huddersfield last summer on a free transfer, following the end of his contract at Millwall, starting a second spell at the Terriers.
Wallace began his career at Falkirk after coming through their academy, making his debut for the first team in 2011. He signed for Huddersfield in 2012 and was loaned back to Falkirk, but did go onto make 60 appearances in his first spell with the club.
Wallace went on loan to Scunthorpe United in 2015 and signed a permanent deal with the Iron in January 2016. A move to Millwall followed in 2018, where Wallace spent seven years, making 226 appearances, scoring 13 goals.
The 33-year-old has added another 34 appearances to his Huddersfield tally and has captained the side seven times this season. Wallace is a left-footed centre-back who has also played at left-back throughout his career and is strong both in the air and on the ground in the tackle.
One to watch
8. Cameron Humphreys: Midfielder Humphreys joined Huddersfield on loan from Ipswich for the remainder of the season during the winter transfer window.
A product of the Tractor Boys’ youth system, Humphreys made his debut for the club in 2021 and has since gone onto make 39 appearances, scoring four goals. Humphreys spent the 2024/25 season on loan with Wycombe Wanderers in League One and had 13 goal contributions across the season (seven goals and six assists).
He has already made 15 appearances for Huddersfield and has two goals to his name. The 22-year-old is a midfielder who typically plays in the number 10 role, but can also play in the middle of the park. He is a strong passer of the ball and likes to shoot from range.
