Jan Siewert names Christopher Schindler as Huddersfield captain until end of season
Previous skipper Tommy Smith has been ruled out for the club's last two games through suspension
Thursday 7 March 2019 15:20, UK
Jan Siewert has called on more Huddersfield players to show greater leadership, after he installed Christopher Schindler as captain until the end of the season.
Huddersfield are rock bottom of the Premier League - 13 points adrift of safety - with nine games left in their league campaign and Schindler replaces Tommy Smith, who had held the position but has missed the last two games through suspension.
Schindler scored the decisive penalty in the Terriers' penalty shoot-out victory against Reading in the Championship play-off final in 2017 and Siewert says he sees great leadership in his fellow German.
I think we need more people who take responsibility on the pitch and this is important.
"No reflection on Tommy at all. He is a great guy. He performed [well] in each game I was in charge," Siewert said.
"We need more leaders on the pitch and of course Tommy was not there so there was no reason for me to change it until the end of the season. We need more people who take responsibility for the squad.
"Christopher Schindler is an important reason why this club is in the Premier League. Because he scored the important penalty and he took responsibility. That shows that he has leadership quality.
"I think we need more people who take responsibility on the pitch and this is important. You need players who have leadership qualities."
Despite the club's predicament in the league table, Siewert is refusing to give up hope of remaining in the top flight for a third consecutive season.
"Give me one reason why not [to keep fighting]," he said ahead of hosting Bournemouth, who have lost their last nine away league matches, on Saturday.
"We still keep on fighting and we go for it. We have to look at each game, our performance and then the results show us how many points we can get from the last games.
"I think it was a big boost for us because it tastes good to win games. It was a long time since November and this win gave us a good feeling so I am looking forward to winning the next game."
Siewert, who replaced David Wagner in January, won his first game since taking charge against Wolves last month but suffered a frustrating 1-0 defeat against Brighton last weekend.
"I think the Brighton game was also a game where we should definitely have got something out of this game but in the end we didn't and that is why I was angry," the Huddersfield boss added.
"We are really looking forward to having our next home game and as you all know the supporters here are amazing so they gave us a big energy.
"I am quite sure that we will need this energy to get something out of the game against our next opponent."
