Andrew Hughes, first team coach for Huddersfield Town spoke ahead of the start of the Premier League about David Wagner and the first match of the season away to Crystal Palace.

Wagner brought in Hughes in May 2016, this proved to be a masterstroke by the German. The ex-Crystal Palace first team coach moved from the Premier League team to the Terriers after a meeting with Wagner.

What did Hughes say?

On returning to the club he had a big impact on in only a couple of months Hughes said of the Crystal Palace game:

"It will be really special. There are some really, really good people there"

"It was tough to leave and come here." Hughes said, "But meeting David and the idea that he sold me simply made me want to come.

“I felt like I needed to challenge myself and learn and I think David, tactically and as a coach and as a manager, could be one of the best in Europe in my eyes.

Hughes went on to say that Hudderfield are "very lucky" to have Wagner and Christoph Buhler, and that it's great for his learning.

“And hopefully they learn off me as well with my mentality and what I know about the game over here.” 

First Premier League game

​Wagner and the team begin their first season in the top flight of English football for the first time since 1972 with the away game at Palace, and Hughes believes there are comparisions between the teams.

"They’ve got a wonderful owner in Steve Parish – he’s a real football man and a fan of the club, like our owner (Dean Hoyle).

“There are good people there who have played lower leagues and have come through" Hughes added, "Like Scotty Dann, Damien Delaney, Jason Puncheon.

“It will be good going back there – there are some friendly faces there.”

Both sets of fans also have strong identities with their respective clubs, this will make for a very interesting and entertaining first match of the seasons for both teams. Huddersfield have more at stake this season, as they are already the bookmakers favourites to be relegated back to the Championship, but then again, they were wrong about Huddersfield last season too.

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