Huddersfield Town 2 Leyton Orient 2: Town chief Clark left livid with defence as Orient fight way back

The Terriers were 2-0 up in the second half when they hit the self-destruct button with defending which Clark labelled “disgusting”.

Centre-back Jamie McCombe, though not mentioned by name, got the worst flak for a foul on Orient’s Paul-Jose M’Poku that led to their late equaliser.

Dean Cox, who set up unmarked Harry Kane for Orient’s first goal on 73 minutes, floated in the free-kick and Jimmy Smith headed in at the far post.

Livid Clark said: “Our defending for the two goals was disgusting. The second one in particular was really poor. We conceded a free-kick on the edge of the box and that was lazy.

“We should’ve gone the extra yard to make sure we cleared the ball. Committing a foul like that is the easiest thing in the world to do. I don’t like my teams doing it.”

Town, unbeaten in 11 league games, looked set for a first win in four matches thanks to goals from Jordan Rhodes and Lee Novak.

Clark was left further frustrated by having to substitute Gary Roberts early on due to a hamstring injury. Rhodes had to be taken off at half-time due to illness.

Danny Cadamarteri had to be replaced on the bench by Tom Clarke after suffering a back injury in the pre-match warm-up.

Stephen Jordan, making his debut at left-back on a month’s loan from Sheffield United, was a rare highlight for Clark.

He said: “Stephen did well in the circumstances. He did some good things and I’m sure he’ll get better when he gets used to the way we play.”

Clark also criticised his forwards. “We had other chances to score. I keep telling the strikers that they need to be more clinical.”

Huddersfield Town: Bennett; Hunt, P Clarke, McCombe, Jordan; Pilkington, Kilbane, Peltier, Roberts (Arfield 29); Afobe (Lee 84), Rhodes (Novak 46). Unused substitutes: Colgan, Gudjonsson, Atkinson, T Clarke.

Leyton Orient: Jones; Whing, Forbes, Chorley, Daniels (Omozusi 75); Revell, Carroll, Dawson (Kane 20), Smith, Cox; Tehoue (M’Poku 46). Unused substitutes: Butcher, McGleish, Jarvis, Cestor.

Referee: P Quinn (Cleveland).

Man of the match: Benik Afobe.