Five conclusions: Huddersfield Town dig deep to move out of relegation zone

Rhys Healey's 94th-minute strike was enough to end a nervous afternoon on a brilliant high and push Town above Birmingham City into 21st

1. Huddersfield Town showed the fight we wanted to see

Well, we say that, but Breitenreiter made no secret of his displeasure at his side’s first 25 minutes. After that, they deserved the win, even if it came late, late, late.

Several times this season, we’ve seen Town lose their heads when games have become fractious – and this game certainly did so, with Sorba Thomas looking like he was about to wallop former EastEnders regular Billy Mitchell (and/or vice versa) before Brodie Spencer stepped in to pull him away. The game carried on in that vein for the rest of the 98+ minutes.

We’ve also seen Town crumble in the face of adversity on multiple occasions. A few missed chances, a goal conceded, a red card, whatever it may be – as Breitenreiter put it a few weeks ago, “we all know what happens in the heads of the team in 21st”. Having since sunk to 22nd and gone without a win in their previous six, it wouldn’t have been surprising to see them blow it again.

Add to that the lack of confidence from the players at their press conferences, let alone on the pitch, and yet more injuries to players as influential and important as Jack Rudoni, Jonathan Hogg and Radinio Balker, and our worry coming into this game was about whether they still had enough of a spark to get through an encounter that was always going to be as combative as this one.

As he has done several times since arriving, though, Breitenreiter had identified that concern before we even got the chance to ask about it on Thursday. He revealed that he had told his players that it was fine to be angry sometimes, feeling that in the right circumstances, it can only make a team sharper, keener. The fact he needed to impart that message was telling, but the fact he had done so was encouraging.

If I have learned anything about mental health and personal wellbeing over the past few years, it’s that it is OK to have negative feelings, and that it’s all about how you choose to channel them. Town took those emotions today and used them in all the right ways.

Lo and behold, the result was the exact show of defiance we all wanted to see – defying our worst expectations too.