Five conclusions: Huddersfield Town pass tough Stockport test

A first-minute own goal was enough to bolster the Terriers’ promotion credentials despite a flawed performance

1. Huddersfield Town’s ability to win even when not playing well is a real asset

Having benefited from that own goal on their very first attack of the game, it felt like it was going to be Huddersfield Town’s day after Michal Helik’s own misdirected clearance off a similar cross bounced harmlessly off the post.

Alright, so that is slightly undercut by Josh Koroma having had a penalty shout turned down a few minutes earlier (wrongfully, in our view) — but not for the first time this season, Town found a way to win despite not actually playing brilliantly well.

It’s important to stress here that they didn’t especially have to; not in attack, anyway. This game featured two relatively even sides both on paper and on the day, and thus was always likely to be tight. With that early goal in the bag, the first priority was just to stay ahead. Mission accomplished.

Nonetheless, Stockport dominated the run of play, and if the roles were reversed, we all would have been deeply frustrated by our side’s inability to turn that into anything more than mere huffing and puffing. Will Collar’s tame effort straight at Jacob Chapman after getting clean through into the box with a man in support was a particular let-off for Town.

Michael Duff was meanwhile rightly disappointed by his side’s often poor work on the ball, especially after the break. The head coach didn’t say this himself, but neither Herbie Kane nor Ben Wiles had especially good games (not terrible, but not their best), and Town are always likely to struggle when their two best passers are off it.