Five conclusions as Huddersfield Town defence provides platform for victory at Reading

Lee Grant's side had to give as good as they got away to a physical Reading side, and ended up beating them at their own game

1. Huddersfield Town faced a different kind of game, but still won

After Leyton Orient made things relatively easy for the Terriers last weekend, Reading posed a far fiercer challenge.

This was a physical encounter for both sides that at times became scrappy and even bad-tempered. Such enmity was at least in part fuelled by loud protests from the home fans in response to some of the most clear-cut yellow card decisions we’ve ever seen.

Reading looked to be a good side throughout the game. However, they were let down by their sloppiness around the Town box in some moments and were convincingly repelled by the away defence in others. Jack Whatmough was our clear man of the match even before his opening goal, but all of the back four played their part. Even after three-quarters of the back line were replaced on the hour, the substitutes seamlessly picked up where the starters had left off.

With both sides playing a high line, space was often squeezed. This meant last week’s biggest weapon (in the good way), Ben Wiles, was effectively nullified. Town had to find different ways to break down a Reading defence that looked as resilient as their own. Well, almost, as it turned out.

At the break, it felt like a ‘next goal wins’ kind of game. Yet despite the opposition being a step above what they faced last week, despite this being a very different type of game, and despite playing away from home, Town still found a way to prevail.

As we learned last season, this is a division characterised by variety, and winning promotion will require Town to rise to the challenge week in, week out.

As Lee Grant put it after the game: “With the sort of group we’ve got, they’ve got a really good understanding already that we need to have all aspects covered. This week will be different to the next and the next and the next.

“We’ve literally just spoken about it in the changing room. We’ve just entered a week with three games that couldn’t be any more diverse.

“We understand that and we want to be able to meet teams wherever they want to meet us, as and when needed. If they want to meet us with the physical side of it, we’re happy to really go toe-to-toe with that. Same if teams want a football match: we want to really match teams and go above and beyond.

“That has to be our attitude, I think, this year.”

So far, so good on that front.