Nahki Wells scored his second goal in three days to earn Huddersfield Town maximum points away to struggling Wigan Athletic in the Sky Bet Championship yesterday.
The Bermudian striker scored in the 81st minute after Wigan’s goalkeeper Jussi Jaaskelainen could only parry Elias Kachunga’s effort to seal a 1-0 win. Wells also scored a late equaliser in Huddersfield’s 1-1 draw at home against Blackburn Rovers on New Year’s Eve.
Huddersfield are fourth in the table and are unbeaten in their last six fixtures.
There has been plenty of speculation over Wells’s future since it emerged he rejected a new contract last summer.
David Wagner, the Huddersfield head coach, wants to keep the striker beyond this month’s transfer window.
“The aim is to hold onto him,” Wagner said. “Nahki is a quality striker and a natural goalscorer who plays his role well.
“I have been very happy with him more or less every game since I came here [in November 2015].”
Wagner said of Wells’s goal: “It was a very well-taken free-kick and an important goal for us. It changed the mood in the dressing room and kept our unbeaten run alive.”
It has been suggested that Huddersfield may be tempted to sell the 26-year-old striker, who is said to be a potential £8-million target for fellow Championship sides Norwich City and Fulham. However, Wells, whose present deal runs until 2018, said his priority remains on doing his best to help his team gain promotion to the Premier League.
“The task at hand at the moment is trying my best to help get Huddersfield promoted, so I’m not focused or bothered about the transfer window,” Wells said.
Reggie Lambe’s Carlisle United suffered a surprise 3-1 defeat at home to Grimsby Town yesterday.
Omar Bogle bagged a brace and provided an assist as Grimsby ended Carlisle’s unbeaten home record.
Carlisle led at the interval through a Charlie Wyke goal, his sixteenth of the campaign, but Bogle’s double made it 18 league goals for the season and the striker also helped lay on a debut strike for substitute Adi Yussuf.
The home side made the breakthrough in the 31st minute, Miller sliding the ball through to Wyke who kept his cool as he beat the advancing goalkeeper.
Grimsby missed a clear chance to level just before the break when Andrew Boyce met a Danny Andrew cross at the far post but contrived to send his close-range header wide.
Carlisle were caught napping three minutes after the restart when Bogle muscled his way through and kept his composure to squeeze the ball past Mark Gillespie from a tight angle.
Bogle was proving a handful for the Carlisle defence and he was on target again in the 74th minute, rising to meet Andrew’s corner from the right and plant a powerful header into the bottom corner.
Debutant Yussuf came on as a substitute and made it 3-1 to Grimsby in the 78th minute, beating Gillespie low down from ten yards.
