Five conclusions: No socks knocked off but Huddersfield Town finally capable again

The 2-1 win over Stevenage was a step in the right direction performance-wise and the Terriers got their rewards. Plus: Antony Evans continues to divide, set piece credit and Ruben Roosken's influence

1. Unsurprisingly, Huddersfield Town looked better in their more familiar formation

We are certain Stevenage will leave the game feeling they had late chances to get a point, and that on another day blah blah blah. But by the same logic, Callum Marshall could have had a hat-trick and Town could have been out of sight midway through the second half. We’ll happily take an open, end-to-end game over Town just being turd for 90 minutes solid.

Besides, Stevenage aren’t relegation fodder: they’re a solid mid-table side with hopes of sneaking a play-off spot. Winning away to the likes of them is just grand — especially when Wrexham, Stockport and Charlton all lost on their own trips to the unfortunately named Lamex Stadium.

No sane Town fan is setting sail aboard HMS Piss The League for a two-month cruise based on this game, particularly with Disney+ FC ready to visit in just a few days’ time. But this was distinctly better regardless, and they can only go one game at a time.

Most pleasing for us — and for Michael Duff — was that Town looked more like a team again, rather than 11 severed individuals who suddenly found themselves on a football pitch wearing the same kit and just decided to go along with it.

Duff had quite reasonably bemoaned that tactically, his hands had been tied by the dearth of available centre-backs over the past few games. His admission on Tuesday that the back four simply wasn’t working was potentially bleak, given he surely couldn’t be certain of being able to return to a three here.

Town were only able to do so in the end by ignoring a medical recommendation to spare Nigel Lonwijk from playing the full 90 minutes and deploying Josh Ruffels as a centre-back — which, for the record, we have long felt is his best position, but which was nonetheless largely untried under Duff.

The result was not an incredible performance from Huddersfield Town, but a capable one. That’s more than we’ve been able to say since, ooooh, Wycombe away, we think?

The worst we could say of any of the players in action — and this only really applied to one or two — was that they were a bit quiet. Nobody was actively terrible, unlike against…well, again, take your pick from the past couple of months.

2. Please let Ruben Roosken stay fit

Every painful week of Town struggling to score goals has driven home just how badly they have missed Mickel Miller since he went off injured against Leyton Orient at the end of November.

Without their influential summer signing, Town have scored far fewer goals, conceded far more goals, and unsurprisingly racked up far fewer points. Count only the goals scored for and against while each of Town’s players has been on the pitch, and Miller has the most points per game of anyone this season.

Why are we talking about Miller, a player who (to the best of our knowledge) is not expected back for another month or so, rather than the actual left wing-back who played and did well in this game?