DAVID Wagner claimed Huddersfield’s passage through to the fourth round of the FA Cup had been easier than expected after their 2-1 win at Wanderers.

The Terriers boss made eight changes and handed a debut to centre-half Terence Kongolo, signed on loan from Monaco earlier in the week.

“To be honest I expected a bit more difficulty because we had so many players who had never played in this unit together,” Wagner said.

“Kongolo was only in training two or three days and I’m not sure he knows everyone’s name.”

Fellow centre-half Michael Hefele made his first appearance since mid-September after recovering from an Achilles injury, midfielder Abdelhamid Sabiri made just his third start for Town and Joel Coleman was handed a rare appearance in goal.

“Hefele has only been back in training a little more than a week after being out five months and Phil Billing (ankle) has only trained two or three times after being out for three months,” Wagner said.

“If you think about this it was a very professional, solid performance.

“We made so many changes with players who had not so much training with the group, like Hefele, Billing and Kongolo, and less minutes with the group like Joel Coleman or Sabiri.

“That’s five players. If you have this in your mind then I’m very satisfied with the performance.”