Preview Fulham vs Huddersfield Town: Three questions with Terrier Bytes

Cottagers Confidential: Huddersfield Town's season last year wasn't much better than Fulham's. What makes you confident that this season will be better?

Sean Makin: I hope come May I'll have egg on my face but I think it will be another season looking to keep our heads above the water. The Championship is getting tougher every year and the money spent by some clubs in our division this summer is frightening and we simply can't compete with that.

It was a disappointment to see Conor Coady sold to Wolves but our chairman has been open and honest and said that the midfielder was sold to balance the books, but we are what we are and we buy young players, develop them, and sell them on for profit in order to survive. To be fair we got a decent price for Coady (£2million) considering what we paid for him last summer, Which I understand was less than £500,000.

We've signed potential for the future in Kyle Dempsey from Carlisle United and Jordy Hiwula from Manchester City but both have rarely featured so far although it is still early days. Experienced midfielder Dean Whitehead has been brought in to replace Coady while Australian international Jason Davidson has filled the vacant left-back position and Martin Cranie has been brought in as backup to the defence.

Goalkeeper Alex Smithies looks to be on his way to QPR, although there seems to be conflicting reports around at the moment, and while it will be sad to see the local lad leave, at least the chairman has promised the money made from the transfer will be reinvested into the squad. So I'm hoping Chris Powell will strengthen the team and we can kick on and not have to keep looking over our shoulder.

CC: What style of football can we expect to see from Huddersfield on Saturday?

SM: When I have watched Town away from home we tend to sit back and try hit teams on the break and now Powell looks to be trying that method in home matches. Fans have slammed Powell for being too negative and rightly so, the display in the defeat to League Two side Notts County in the Capital One Cup was abysmal at best and he settled for a point against a poor Blackburn Rovers side last weekend. We have tended to be poor in the half half and come out better in the second 45 as with the draw against Brighton on Tuesday night. Jacob Butterfield is the focal point of the team and everyone is delighted that we have warned off Derby County.

CC: What are your predictions for the season? Who goes up, who goes down?

SM: Going up: Middlesbrough, Wolves and Hull. Going down: MK Dons, Rotherham and Bolton.

CC: Predicted scoreline and lineup?

SM: Fulham isn't a happy hunting ground for us and neither side can defend so I'll take a 1-1 draw.

I'm hoping Sean Scannell might be back from a hamstring injury but I'm expecting the same side that drew with Brighton in midweek. Murphy, Smith, Hudson, Lynch, Davidson, Butterfield, Whitehead, Hogg, Bunn, Wells, Miller.