Sheffield Wednesday go nap as Leeds United and Huddersfield Town caught napping

AFTER a potentially pivotal weekend for Yorkshire's three promotion challengers in the Championship, David Wagner insists Huddersfield Town's top-flight aspirations will not suffer any lasting damage despite a second heavy defeat of the season to Fulham.
Sheffield Wednesday's match winner Gary Hooper (Picture: Steve Ellis).Sheffield Wednesday's match winner Gary Hooper (Picture: Steve Ellis).
Sheffield Wednesday's match winner Gary Hooper (Picture: Steve Ellis).

The Terriers slumped to a 4-1 loss against the in-form Londoners, a result that nudged Wagner’s men down to fifth in the table thanks to Sheffield Wednesday’s victory over Derby County.

Huddersfield, however, remain odds-on to extend their season beyond May 7 due to having tomorrow night’s game in hand on all their rivals at Wolverhampton Wanderers.

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Victory at Molineux will guarantee a top-six finish, while a draw would leave the Terriers sitting pretty in third place with just two games remaining.

“We lost the game but now we leave it behind us,” said Wagner, whose side’s hopes of qualifying were boosted by seventh-placed Leeds United’s 2-1 defeat at Burton Albion and a 3-2 loss for Reading at Nottingham Forest.

“It will be very easy to do that because our next game is just around the corner. An opportunity has been missed (in terms of the play-offs) but we have another now. This is in our hands.

“We have shown unbelievable consistency over the season, I think we have been outside the top six for just a few days.”

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Asked about Town’s five-point lead over neighbours Leeds, Wagner added: “To be fair, we notice the other results but I always like to concentrate only on what we do.”

Wagner’s disappointment at his side not taking their first opportunity to guarantee a play-off place by beating Fulham at the John smith’s Stadium was in contrast to the sense of satisfaction felt at Hillsborough.

Goals from experienced strikers Steven Fletcher and Gary Hooper in a 2-1 win over the Rams nudged the Owls up to a season’s high fourth place.

Like Huddersfield, Carlos Carvalhal’s men are within touching distance of the play-offs thanks to that five-point advantage over Leeds.

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Despite that, assistant manager Lee Bullen insists there will be no complacency going into the club’s final two fixtures.

“This league has a way of going back to bite you,” he said after Wednesday claimed a fifth straight win for the first time in a decade.

“Everyone will say that is us home and hosed. But Leeds United have still got two games to play and six points to play for.

“Garry Monk will still be saying that to his players. Our focus is on ourselves, not anyone else. We know what we have got to do.”

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Leeds, meanwhile, have stumbled at just the wrong moment. The defeat at Burton was the club’s fourth in six games and means United are now reliant on others doing them favours.

Even then, the Elland Road club are likely to need a maximum six points from their final two games to have any hopes of claiming a place in the top six.

A frustrated Monk admitted: “We are disappointed and now the situation is out of our hands.

“But we have a duty to each other and to our fans and to everyone after how hard this group has been working all season to fight to the very end.

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“We have to give our maximum in these two games and try and win them or at least win the next game which is at Elland Road.

“Then who knows if we can go into the last game with half a chance? Hopefully, we can get to that point.

“We have been fighting all season and we still have a small opportunity and football works in mysterious ways.

“We will be ready in these next two games. We owe that to each other and to our fans. It’s a small chance but we are going to have to try and take it.”

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Huddersfield, like Leeds, may have suffered a chastening defeat over the weekend but Wagner is adamant his players will bounce back tomorrow at Wolves.

“The defeat hurts but I know where we were at fault,” said the German, whose side crashed 5-0 to Fulham at Craven Cottage in October.

“It is difficult to win a game against a team like Fulham if you score three half own goals. We gave those goals away.

“We have to be better in terms of concentration and focus. If we do that, we have a good chance.”

Match reports: 
Pages 2 and 3.