Match Pack: Watford v Huddersfield Town

• Watford v Huddersfield Town
• Sky Bet Championship
• Vicarage Road
• Saturday February 24, 3pm KO
• Yellow and black home kit

• Referee: Ben Toner
• Assistant Referees: Rob Smith and Ian Cooper
• Fourth Official: Leigh Doughty

There will be a new man in the Huddersfield dugout on Saturday, with André Breitenreiter taking charge of his first Terriers match after being appointed last week.

The German has previously managed clubs in Germany and Switzerland, inclduing Schalke 04, TSG Hoffenheim and FC Zürich.

His immediate task is to retain the Terriers' Championship status, with the side currently a point above the drop zone.

Huddersfield thought they had grabbed a late point last time out with a 92nd-minute equaliser, only for Hull to go up the other end and grab a winner to condemn the side to a 13th defeat of the season.

• Huddersfield Town won 3-2 away at Watford last season – the Terriers have never won consecutive away league games against the Hornets.

• After winning three successive meetings with Huddersfield in the Championship between September 2012 and October 2013, Watford have won only three of the last eight such encounters (D1 L4).

• The Terriers have won just one of their last 13 away Championship matches (D6 L6), a 2-1 win at Sunderland in November.

Click HERE for a full statistical breakdown.

Jeremy Ngakia is in contention to make his first appearance since the reverse fixture in November.

Valérien Ismaël confirmed he is available for selection after recovering from an ankle injury, saying: "I am pleased that Jez can join the team. He played 45 minutes last week with the Under-21s and he has trained the whole week without any issue."

This game comes too soon for Vakoun Bayo, with the Ivorian on course to make his return next weekend against Millwall.

Ryan Porteous is the only other absentee, serving the second game of his two-match suspension after the defender picked up his 10th yellow card of the season.

For the visitors, there will be no reunion for former Hornet Rhys Healey, who made the move to Yorkshire in January.

The striker is set to be out until at least the end of March through a groin injury.

Top scorer Michał Helik may continue his absence having missed the last four matches after being forced off in the 1-1 draw away to QPR.

Valérien Ismaël, Watford Head Coach:

"This isn’t the first time this season [Watford have faced a new manager]. In this case, I don’t think it’s that bad as we know Huddersfield better than him.

"We have faced them and have seen them throughout the season so we know exactly what is possible with their squad. We know their clear patterns that we will see happen tomorrow."

André Breitenreiter, new Huddersfield Town Manager:

"I know about their manager, he trained in Germany and also in my home city Hannover.

“We need 90 minutes, maybe some more, to show our best performance. Watford has a good team, good strikers, but we have a very good team, and I hope that we will see this on Saturday.”

Overall:

Won: 13
Drawn: 6
Lost: 16

Last Six:

November 2023: Huddersfield Town 0-0 Watford (Championship)
April 2023: Watford 2-3 Huddersfield Town (Championship)
December 2022: Huddersfield Town 0-2 Watford (Championship)
January 2021: Watford 2-0 Huddersfield Town (Championship)
December 2020: Huddersfield Town 2-0 Watford (Championship)
April 2019: Huddersfield Town 1-2 Watford (Premier League)

Two wonderful individuals goals from Roberto Pereyra and Gerard Deulofeu helped the Hornets to a dominant home win over the Terriers in the 2018/19 Premier League season. Isaac Success rounded it off with a late strike to see the game end 3-0.