Five conclusions: Huddersfield Town take three barely-deserved points from terrible game

Liam Manning’s side ground out a boring win over Rotherham United, but the performance raised more questions than the victory answered

1. Three points is three points, but that performance…

This is the first time we’ve come away from a Huddersfield Town victory that felt more like a defeat. The game was dire. We couldn’t even find fault with the side getting booed off on the final whistle.

Look, it’s a win, and in general you take them whatever the circumstances. If Town do the same thing against, say, Lincoln or Cardiff in the next couple of home games, we doubt anybody will mind too much, assuming they can endure another 90 minutes of boredom.

There’s a way this can still turn out for the best, and we’ll all look back on this match and say, Well, they were terrible, but at least they got back to winning ways.

It is, after all, 13 points from a possible 15 at home under Liam Manning. If Town make the top six, this is likely to be one of the main reasons. We have to reluctantly concede that the three points they notched up here played their part.

The problem is that Rotherham were just as bad — probably a little bit better, for most of the game — and they’re in the relegation zone, having now scored just two goals in their past six league games.

The problem is that Town have been poor for the better part of a month now, with that tough run of games coming up after next weekend’s trip to Port Vale. What are we meant to take from this game to make us think Town are going to be any better against the teams above and around them in the table?

The problem, ultimately, is that there are just too many problems with Town’s work on the ball at the moment, and few signs of improvement, even against some of the weakest teams in the division.

Who knows what comes next, but one thing we know for sure is that Town have to do better.