Michael Duff's half-time rant sets standard he shouldn't have to vocalise

The head coach was less than impressed with his side's first half showing against Manchester United U21s in the EFL Trophy

Michael Duff wants to use this fixture as a shining example of the importance of turning up for every game. After the final whistle, he admitted that his Huddersfield Town side failed to do so in the first half before putting on a much better showing after the break in a 4-1 win over Manchester United.

As per David Hartrick’s coinage, Town have been Jekyll and Hudd this season: dominant in comfortable victories, then awful in defeat.

We have rarely seen one and then the other in a single game, however. Duff hopes that being able to show his players the difference that improvement in attitude can make against the same opposition will help them to go into future games with a much better mindset.

The head coach already has a seminar planned this week on what a winning culture looks like. He believes the squad still has a way to go to achieve such an aim in an up-and-down season. This, Duff felt, was too much of an up-and-down game — or rather, a down-and-then-up game.

“Not very good first half, excellent second half,” was his immediate assessment. “I probably lost my temper at half time more than I have any point since I've been here.