BUT IRONICALLY THEY TUMBLE OUT OF THE PLAY-OFF PLACES
Came in for his first league start of the season and made a big contribution to a solid team display. Might have scored too. Skipper on his 100th league outing for Town, he gave total effort. A shame there wasn’t a win to mark his milestone. (for Hogg, 84) (for Wells, 84) (for Cranie, 86) Not used: Dean Whitehead, Tareiq HolmesDennis, Jack Payne, Joel Coleman. Bookings: Michael Hefele, Kasey Palmer (Town); Ryan Nyambe, Darragh Lenihan, Jason Lowe (Blackburn). HOW ironic that Huddersfield Town slipped out of the Championship play-off places after producing one of their best performances since leading the table eight games previously.
As David Wagner said, if his side keep playing like this, they will surely start to pick up victories.
But they would be a lot easier to come by if Town started scoring more goals.
Despite the boss’s protestations, their difficulty in converting chances is surely something of a concern.
According to the match stats, they had 29 efforts on goal, eight of them on target.
But just one, Kasey Palmer’s sixth-minute header from Chris Lowe’s corner, ended up in the net.
Blackburn’s corresponding figures were nine and two, their equaliser coming from Danny Graham’s 34th-minute penalty.
So it’s clear that more of a cutting edge would have secured that elusive 10th win of the season.
It’s well documented that Town, now in eighth place, haven’t scored more than twice in any of their 20 league and cup games this season.
All their nine victories so far have been by a one-goal margin.
And only five of the 23 other teams in the division have accrued fewer than Town’s 21 goals in 19 matches.
Of the top 15 in the table, only Wagner’s side have a negative goal difference.
And that could be a telling factor in the final standings.
The head coach says that’s the only table he’s worried about, and he has a point – though sadly not three!
But it’s been frustrating to see Town slowly but surely slip down the order.
It’s been a tough old spell, and the first time during Wagner’s tenure that there have been five games without a win.
At least other than the failure to produce that final golden touch, there was plenty to like about this performance.
It was much more like the Town on show earlier in the season, with crisp passing, quick movement and plenty of hard work to win back the ball when possession (and Town had 67% of it over the whole match) was lost.