Danny Ward injury scare survival gives Huddersfield Town big Wembley selection decision

The sight of Danny Ward in training with the rest of his Huddersfield Town teammates in Portugal will have come as a welcome sight to Terriers fans ahead of next weekend’s play-off final. The striker can be seen working alongside a group of teammates in the club’s YouTube video diary from their warm weather training camp, showing no ill effects from his early departure against Luton Town on Monday evening.

The 14-goal forward had to go off shortly before the break in that semi-final second-leg clash, with Jordan Rhodes coming on to score the winning goal late on and send Carlos Corberan’s side through to a Wembley showdown with Nottingham Forest.

That marked Rhodes’ third goal in five games and may well have given the head coach to think about with his teamsheet for the big day in London next Sunday – but having two proven centre-forwards to choose can only be a good thing for Corberan.

On the one hand, Town have been a hugely effective team during Rhodes’ 793 Championship minutes this season, scoring 17 goals and conceding just six. That’s the equivalent of a goal scored every 47 minutes and one conceded every 133, which is very close to the best such record of any player in the Town squad.

Remarkably, Town have conceded just one goal when Rhodes has been on the pitch over his last 16 appearances in all competitions going back to January, and that was Barnsley’s late consolation goal deep in injury time last month when the game was already won.

But those numbers do require some further scrutiny. Just eight of Rhodes’ 23 league appearances have been starts; he has come on as a sub in the last 20 minutes of games 12 times. Conversely, just three of Ward’s 42 league appearances this season have come from the bench,

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