Danny Cowley has no defence for Juninho Bacuna as Huddersfield Town crash

The Terriers dropped into the relegation places without kicking a ball on Saturday and were unable to move out of the bottom three after suffering a third straight defeat.

The outcome could have been different, however, after Alex Pritchard was bundled over in the area by Ben Watson with the game scoreless. Lewis Grabban scored either side of the interval to put the game beyond the Terriers before Ryan Yates added a third for the hosts.

“It looked a penalty and it could have changed the game,” admitted Cowley.

“I thought there was one second half on Lewis [O’Brien], too, but I don’t want to make excuses.”

He added: “To concede in the second half was really tough, you can’t give Grabban those chances.

“I didn’t think it was over at 2-0 down. We had good possession and good moments, but Forest are tough and they are good on the counter.

“When you take risks you can leave the door open. We need to do better in both boxes.”

Karlan Grant scored his 17th goal of the season in the sixth minute of stoppage time but Town’s miserable afternoon had been compounded five minutes earlier when Juninho Bacuna was shown a straight red card.

The Terriers midfielder allowed his frustration to get the better of him with a lunging challenge on Nuno Da Costa in the final minute of normal time.

“I am not going to defend the indefensible,” said Cowley with Bacuna now set to miss the next three matches.

“When he gets emotional he makes rash decisions. He can play right-back and centre midfield and he will be a real loss for us. We have to face the consequences of his behaviour. He knows my feelings.”

Huddersfield are set to be bolstered by the return of Steve Mounie for Wednesday’s trip to Birmingham City. Cowley added: “Maybe we lack a bit of physicality in key areas of the pitch but we will try and resolve that. We now require strength and resilience.”

Notthingham Forest: Samba; Cash, Figueiredo, Worrall, Ribeiro; Watson (Mighten 90), Silva (Da Costa 73); Lolley (Bostock 90), Johnson (Yates 45), Ameobi (Carvalho 73); Grabban. Unused substitutes: Smith,Jenkinson, Dawson, Walker

Huddersfield Town: Lossl; Duhaney (Bacuna 74), Stearman (Stankovic 70), Schindler, Toffolo; Hogg (Chalobah 60), O’Brien; Willock (Campbell 70), Pritchard (Smith-Rowe 60), King; Grant. Unused substitutes: Coleman, Kachunga, Quaner, Daly.

Referee: Referee: David Webb (County Durham).

Editor’s note: first and foremost - and rarely have I written down these words with more sincerity - I hope this finds you well.

Almost certainly you are here because you value the quality and the integrity of the journalism produced by The Yorkshire Post’s journalists - almost all of which live alongside you in Yorkshire, spending the wages they earn with Yorkshire businesses - who last year took this title to the industry watchdog’s Most Trusted Newspaper in Britain accolade.

And that is why I must make an urgent request of you: as advertising revenue declines, your support becomes evermore crucial to the maintenance of the journalistic standards expected of The Yorkshire Post. If you can, safely, please buy a paper or take up a subscription. We want to continue to make you proud of Yorkshire’s National Newspaper but we are going to need your help.

Postal subscription copies can be ordered by calling 0330 4030066 or by emailing subscriptions@jpimedia.co.uk. Vouchers, to be exchanged at retail sales outlets - our newsagents need you, too - can be subscribed to by contacting subscriptions on 0330 1235950 or by visiting www.localsubsplus.co.uk where you should select The Yorkshire Post from the list of titles available.

If you want to help right now, download our tablet app from the App / Play Stores. Every contribution you make helps to provide this county with the best regional journalism in the country.

Sincerely. Thank you.

James Mitchinson

Editor