Huddersfield Town's Walsall collapse punctures early-stage optimism

The Terriers were second-best to League Two Walsall even before Pearson’s red card

If you thought it was disappointing to win only one-nil when you expected a four-nil, then losing 3-2 to League Two opposition in the Carabao Cup, despite holding a two-goal lead, must make you furious.

There are valid reasons for this. Regardless of the scoreline, Walsall were the better team even when it was 11 v 11 — no exaggeration, they were the best team Town have faced this season, as ludicrous as that may sound.

However, pointing out that Walsall were good is no excuse for Town. All the problems they displayed against Shrewsbury reappeared, but twice as bad, even with Michael Duff fielding a strong side. The central midfield lined up as it had in the league, left wing-back Jaheim Headley starred in the last round of the cup, and the starting two centre-forwards have alternated their positions. Only the goalkeeper and back three were significantly different, and they had an average age just shy of 32.

Yet, as a collective, the performance was astonishingly poor. Some individual efforts deserved praise in difficult circumstances — most notably penalty-saving Chris Maxwell and goalscorer Josh Ruffels, who returned to competitive football after nine months to make multiple blocks that initially seemed decisive but ultimately proved futile. Duff also praised Josh Koroma after the game.

Beyond that, the head coach joined us all in his disappointment. One point of difference was on the game-changing sending off. Duff felt that it was the wrong decision, and indeed Pearson’s red card was just as soft as a yellow that was shown to Ruffels for a similar foul earlier in the game.