Huddersfield Town need to learn fast in Premier League - Kachunga

West Ham United’s opener in a 2-0 triumph may have been hugely fortunate, Pedro Obiang’s shot taking a wicked deflection off Mathias ‘Zanka’ Jorgensen’s back to wrong-foot Jonas Lossl and loop in off the post just as the home side looked to have run out of ideas.

But Wagner was not in the mood to dwell on how the Hammers’ club anthem about how ‘fortune’s always hiding’ had been turned on its head. Instead, the German was angry, believing his side had lacked bravery going forward and made too many unforced errors.

Elsewhere in the bowels of the London Stadium, Town’s players looked similarly crest-fallen as they filed out into the night before making the long trip north.

Amid those glum faces and dejected body language, however, there was also a determination to heed the lessons of that first defeat of the season.

“We were not at our best against West Ham,” said Elias Kachunga to The Yorkshire Post. “The first half, we were not really in the game.

“There have been four games in the league this season and this was our first that was not so good.

“Sometimes, these days just happen. But what we have seen is that the level in this league is very high.

“We will only adapt to this level if we give 100 per cent. Losing is always disappointing but you have to deal with it and learn a lesson from these kind of days, making sure you are better in the future.”

Town have an opportunity to make amends on Saturday, as the 2016 champions Leicester City head to the John Smith’s Stadium.

The insipid attacking display together with the five-day gap between fixtures may lead Wagner, a big advocate of rotating his squad in the Championship, to make a few changes.

Certainly, Huddersfield will have to keep the ball much better than was the case on Monday night.

Steve Mounie struggled in this respect, while only Tom Ince of the attacking midfield trio behind the club’s top scorer carried any threat – and even then it was only in the closing stages.

Only Aaron Mooy, in fact, displayed the kind of quality needed to prevail at the top level when in possession to give Wagner plenty to ponder ahead of taking on the Foxes.

Whether changes follow as a result remains to be seen but Kachunga is certain the Terriers are ready to respond in the right manner to the West Ham setback.

“We have had a really good start but this is the Premier League so we have to keep going,” said the club’s top scorer in last season’s successful promotion push.

“We cannot think this is all we need. In this league, you have to be 100 per cent and against West Ham we did not manage that.

“It is why we lost the game (on Monday) but now we move on to the next game this Saturday. We have to show a reaction.”

A sell-out crowd will welcome the Town players on to the pitch before the Foxes clash and Kachunga admits that support will give everyone in blue and white a huge lift.

“We are looking forward to playing at home again,” said the £1.1m permanent summer signing from FC Ingolstadt.

“Our supporters are unbelievable so we want to have a better day against Leicester than we had at West Ham.

“We will see in the next games if we have really made that step up. But I think everyone should be confident and happy to be in the Premier League. There is no reason not to believe in ourselves.”