Five conclusions after fifth defeat in a row for Huddersfield Town

Lee Grant's Terriers were dumped out of the FA Cup in the first round thanks to another 2-1 defeat to Bolton Wanderers

1. Huddersfield Town still haven’t learned they have to play for 90 minutes

You’d have thought that having only shown up for 45 minutes against Bolton a couple of weeks ago and paid the price for it, Town might have understood the assignment in front of them this time around. That’s to say nothing of, well, basically every other game this season.

Somehow, the message still hasn’t settled in. In a reversal of their last encounter with the Trotters, Town were utterly hopeless with the ball in the first half, and many players were no better out of possession. If the back four and Lee Nicholls had not generally been solid, it could have been a lot worse.

Town managed just two shots in the first 45 minutes: a speculative Marcus Harness effort into a crowded box which was inevitably blocked, and a Josh Feeney header from a corner that got nowhere near the target. Bolton had 12 shots, seven of which were on target and one of which, of course, found the net.

There was no creativity or penetration in attack, and far too little resistance in defence. The spookiest Hallowe’en attraction in Bolton would have seen fewer frightened people on Friday night than were in the Town midfield.

The half passed Ryan Ledson, Ben Wiles, and Lynden Gooch by — mostly because they let it. Mickel Miller was trying, but this was his first start for nearly three months and understandably, he looked as though he was still warming back up.

It was disappointing to see a Town side that featured just two forced changes pick up where they left off against Wycombe last week, rather than doubling down on how they started in that defeat at Adams Park before Alfie May’s red card.

There was a marked improvement in Town’s work rate in the second half, even if not always in their execution. However, by then they were already a goal down, and that proved to be the difference.

It was still far from sensational, but it was at least more of an even encounter, as the 1-1 second-half scoreline suggests. If Town had put in their second-half performance across the whole game and still lost due to bad luck, it would have been easier to forgive, given Bolton’s current form and their superb home record.

But the abject first-half showing precludes any sense of generosity. We can’t give any credit for playing half a game of football decently against a team of supposedly equivalent quality. Truthfully, we’re fed up with being forced to trot out that same criticism time after time. It’s almost past through the point of frustration to now just being incredibly boring.

We’d say it was a confidence issue if Town hadn’t been like this even when they were winning at the start of the season. We’ve seen awful second halves after encouraging starts, awful first halves followed by better second periods, games where they alternate between good spells and bad spells, games where they’re good for 25 minutes and then completely terrible for the rest. How many times have we seen a good 90 minutes? Once, twice, never?

In any case, it’s five defeats in a row now for Town. Abysmal.