How will Huddersfield recover from their first league loss in over a year?

By Tony Alvarez
Last night Huddersfield lost their 43 game unbeaten league run at the hands of current League One leaders Charlton Athletic thanks to goals to QPR loanee Hogan Ephraim and Frenchman Yann Kermorgant.
The result gives Charlton a 7 point lead at the top of league 1 over closest rivals Sheffield Wednesday and gives them an 8 point lead over Huddersfield Town.
Although Huddersfield lost to Peterborough in the play off finals at Old Trafford in May they were unbeaten in the League since December 2010 when they tasted defeat against current Championship leaders Southampton.
Many people are not counting Huddersfields record due to the defeat in the play offs whilst others are just seeing it as an achievement to remain undefeated in the league for so long.
After Huddersfield’s 2-1 over Notts County their was celebrations on the pitch as the club had surpassed Nottingham Forests 42 game unbeaten Football League record however they could only better it by one game after last nights defeat.
Although they have set a new Football League record the club were hoping to chase down Arsenals 49 unbeaten game run but unfortunately for the terriers they fell short.
It will now be seen how the club deal with defeat as it is a psychological barrier which has been knocked down, Premier League fans may remember the severe drop in form Arsenal had after they suffered defeat at Old Trafford in what would of been their 50th consecutive game without defeat.
Despite the loss Huddersfield are still in a great position in League One and cannot afford to let the defeat get into the players head and affect their form in the next few fixtures and even more importantly until the end of the season.
On a side note but quite an interesting fact, both Nottingham Forests and Arsenals unbeaten runs were ended with 2-0 away defeats and now Huddersfield’s record has fell to the same score line.
What are your thoughts on Huddersfield defeat? Will it affect them psychologically? Have they still got enough to get promoted? Are you one of the people who are not counting the clubs run due to the play off defeat? Leave a comment and let us know your thoughts.
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Can anyone beat Huddersfield?

By Tony Alvarez

On Saturday Lee Clark’s Huddersfield Town side beatStevenage2-1 at their home the Galpharm Stadium thanks to goals from Gary Roberts and Lee Novak.

This might not be particularly impressive for fans with little knowledge of the Football Leagues, it was 3^rd place in the table beating 15^th at home not a huge surprise but those in the know will be fully aware that this is Huddersfield’s 37th consecutive League game without tasting defeat spanning across this season and the majority of last season.

Of course the club have lost in that time in cup competitions and must importantly in the play off final at the end of last term when the suffered a 3-0 defeat to Peterborough United at Old Trafford.

Frustratingly for club after finishing third last season despite their unbeaten start to this season which so far sits at 12 fixtures the club yet again sit 3^rd in the table, 4 points off leaders Charlton Athletic and a point behind 2^nd place Sheffield Wednesday.

Frustratingly for the club despite being on this long unbeaten run too many games for the liking of everyone involved with the club have been drawn, of the 12 fixtures so far the club have drawn 6. This draws include points dropped at Leyton Orient who were bottom of the table a the time as well as failing to win against other sides in the bottom half of the table, Rochdale, Oldham and Bury with the other two draws coming against 4^th placed MK Dons and 9^th placed Hartlepool.

On Saturday Huddersfield travel to bottom of the table Exeter in a fixture you would think they should easily win, however Huddersfield record shows you can never know what to expect fromHuddersfield.

Following that Lee Clark’s men host Phil Browns Preston side who currently lie fifth in the table and are finding their feet in League One after last years relegation from the Championship.

It is good news for the club that the players have simply forgotten how to lose a League fixture, if they continue with their run of never knowing when there beaten the club will surely be there or there abouts at the end of the season.

I expect the club to find a vain of form in terms of picking up more victories, I fully expect the club to face defeat at some point this term however the club could do with winning more games if it meant sacrificing the odd draw for a loss at times.

Lee Clark is on the right track with his squad, he has a brilliant squad of players who in total honesty would not be out of place in the Championship and are desperately unlucky to not already be a Championship side after last seasons exploits.

What are your thoughts? Who will be the side to take Huddersfield’s unbeaten record? Do you think the club will achieve automatic promotion? Would you take a few defeats if it meant turning some of the draws into victories? Leave a comment and let us know your thoughts

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League 1 preview….

By Tony Alvarez

The race for the League 1 play off title and the right to go up to the Championship along with Brighton and Southampton gets underway this weekend with Huddersfield, Peterborough, MK Dons and Bournemouth battling it out.

The mini tournament kicks off on Saturday with Huddersfield who were so close to automatic promotion visiting the side that finished 6^th Bournemouth following them on Sunday 5^th placed MK Dons host Darren Fergusons Peterborough United.

The return legs will be held on Weds the 18^th of May and Thurs the 19^th respectively.

The disappointment for the winners is of course that this year due to the champion’s league final being held there the final will not be held at Wembley but at Manchester United’s Old Trafford. (Check back on Friday for an article on that)

Huddersfield are understandably the bookies favourites going into the play offs as they finished 8 points above 4^th placed Peterborough and a massive 16 points ahead of the final play off position and semi final opponents Bournemouth.

This division is unlike any other due to the huge gap in points and it is reflected in the bookmakers odds with Huddersfield at 13/8Peterboroughat 5/2 MK Dons at 10/3 andBournemouthat a massive 4/1.

 I am not going to go for the favourites so often in these competitions the team who deserve it over the regular season miss out and I can see the same happening to Huddersfield here, there’s no doubt Lee Clarke has got his men in excellent shape but a bit of bad luck or finding themselves against one of these clubs on a bad day could shock them.

I have a sneaky feeling that Peterborough are going to produce some special performances and earn themselves promotion, they know all about gaining promotion and so does their manager as he got them to the Championship two years ago.

 Peterboroughstruggle with a poor defence but they more than making up for that with their attacking options, the Posh are the leagues top scorers with over 100 goals in the 46 game league season which means on their day they will be a threat to anyone.

IfPeterboroughdo have any chance of success much will depend on the form of talismanic front man Craig Mackail-Smith, the 27 year old scored 27 goals in the League this year and much of their play is based around him, if he’s on form the rest of the sides better be wary. He will surely be plying his trade at a higher level next term it’s just a question of whether he can take hisPeterboroughside with him.

I am not writing off any of the sides as they all have ability clearly to get to the play offs and they all have something about them which makes them very dangerous on their day, Huddersfield are clearly the best side but as we all know the best side does not always win football matches.

What do you think? Who will be playing in the Championship next season? Will Mackail-Smith be there with or without Peterborough? Are Huddersfield way too strong for the rest of the competitors leave a comment and let us know your thoughts