Terriers bite back after mauling

HUDDERSFIELD boss David Wagner called for a reaction from his players and they duly delivered – even if they were unable to secure all three points against Birmingham.

Seven days earlier the Terriers had been thumped 5-0 at Fulham, but although victory proved just out of reach against the resolute Blues, Wagner was delighted with the performance as his team remain in third place in the Championship.

Wagner said: “The result is quite frustrating, but the performance from the team was great.

“I asked the players for a reaction following the result at Fulham. On that day we certainly under-performed.

“But here we were by far the better team and really we missed out on a strong penalty claim in the second half.

“The free-kick which led to Birmingham’s goal was a soft one, too, but I can’t complain too much.

“Sometimes in football your team doesn’t get what it deserves. That was definitely the case here.

“We were miles the better side, and that is why I felt frustrated. We have to keep working away, though. We are still in a very strong position in the Championship and it’s been a good season for us so far.

“We are now left to try and get back to winning ways after the break.”

The Terriers enjoyed the better of a rather disappointing first period at the John Smith’s Stadium.

As early as the fourth minute Elias Kachunga saw a goalbound strike hacked off the line by Clayton Donaldson.

Nahki Wells forced Blues’ keeper Tomasz Kuszczak into a smart stop, while German rightback Chris Lowe fired a shot just past the post.

The visitors’ best chance came in the 24th minute when Lukas Jutkiewicz rose superbly to head David Cotterill’s cross wide.

The tempo lifted considerably in the second half. David Davis fired an effort wide after a barnstorming run through the middle, while the Terriers responded with Jonathan Hogg stinging the palms of Kuszczak.

And the game truly burst into life in a cracking four-minute spell. The hosts struck in the 69th minute, when Kachunga lashed home his sixth goal of the season off the inside of a post after he met a measured pass from Aaron Mooy.

Two minutes later Wells smashed a 25-yard thunderbolt against the crossbar as a potentially victory-clinching opportunity went begging.

As if to highlight that, the Blues levelled minutes later when Jutkiewicz headed into the corner after finishing off Jonathan Grounds’ knock-down.

It’s also just one win in five for the Blues, but boss Gary Rowett said: “I’m pleased with a share of the spoils. Huddersfield are a good side and I don’t think too many teams will get a point here.

“They’re very difficult to play against, but we started okay defensively. We didn’t do enough going forward, and when we did we were too wasteful.

“The second half was better, and I thought it was slightly against the run of play when they scored. But then we responded well, and that’s very much the hallmark of our team.

“There is a little bit of a lack of quality and belief maybe, but we’re fighting. We came back at Huddersfield and got a great equaliser from Lukas.”