Huddersfield Town trio's absence vs Ipswich Town explained and Jack Rudoni substitution clarity

Huddersfield Town trio Sorba Thomas, Delano Burgzorg and Jaheim Headley were left out of the matchday squad for their Championship swansong with Ipswich Town.

Terriers head coach Andre Breitenreiter said in the lead up to Saturday’s game that Town would “take just the players to travel with us to Ipswich who we think are the right [ones], because some players are on loan, or some players are thinking maybe in their head that they left the club”.

The German also criticised a lack of unity amongst the squad in his pre-match press conference, with Town’s relegation fate all but sealed at the time, while he previously questioned some players’ “heart and passion” following a 4-0 defeat to Swansea City that took the Terriers to the brink of the drop.

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Asked by BBC Radio Leeds whether the decision not to select Thomas and Burgzorg was a “punishment for their lack of engagement against Birmingham and previous games”, Breitenreiter replied: “You gave the answer, yes for sure.

“We showed the selection for the team, for the squad, for this game. We wanted to set on the young players, I wanted to see also Tom Iorpenda, because other players, they didn’t show their best performances the last few weeks or months, so we tried to play with other players.

“I never speak about individual players, I speak to them maybe in personal talks, but not over the media, so when they are not in the squad, you can build your own opinion.”

Breitenreiter also raised eyebrows with the decision to substitute Jack Rudoni on the half-hour mark of Saturday’s defeat, shortly after the midfielder had been dispossessed in the lead up to the Tractor Boys’ first goal.

Explaining why he made that call, the head coach said: “We played good the first half against the ball, we showed a compactness unit. It was only then difficult when we lost the ball on the easy way.

“Sometimes it was too easy, and we defended not so active like we wanted from some players, so it’s also the reason for the substitution in the first half. I was not fine with the performance of Jack Rudoni, so we tried it with Alex Matos, and he did it really good and much better.”

Breitenreiter made four changes from the 1-1 draw against Birmingham City last time out, with Chris Maxwell, Ben Jackson, Ben Wiles and Tom Edwards given a chance to impress. He praised the latter’s contribution in particular, with the on-loan Stoke City defender making his first start since October in Saturday’s loss.

“For me, he was one of the best of our team, he played really good flat passes,” Breitenreiter said. “We all know about the negative things against him, because of some games at the beginning of the season, but he trained always with passion and 100 per cent, so he deserved to start. This was the reason why some players started, and they could take the chance today.”