Huddersfield Town boss on Ollie Turton decision, Bojan Radulovic absence and Matty Pearson scare after win

Duff’s squad has been plagued by injuries but the Terriers are now unbeaten in five games in all competitions. The streak has significantly lifted the mood at the John Smith’s Stadium, as it was preceded by a run of four straight league defeats.

Their performance against Grecians was hardly dazzling, but the Terriers were undoubtedly worthy winners in the West Yorkshire sunshine.

Speaking after the win, Duff said: “The first half at Wrexham [in midweek], we weren’t very good, but we were better in the second half, so we’ve dealt with a little bit of adversity.

“It showed up quite a few things we didn’t like. They’re the things you try and address.

“We’re starting to look more and more like a team, in and out of possession. Look at the players that aren’t in the team at the moment and are injured. Championship centre-half, Championship goalkeeper. It’s good that people are stepping up - it’s what we need.”

There was no sign of Bojan Radulovic when the squad was named, with Huddersfield’s media channels citing illness as the reason.

Elaborating, Duff said: “I’ve not seen Bojan. I got a phone call at half-eight this morning, just a sickness bug. Hopefully, it’s similar to what we see he had a couple of weeks ago, when he was 24/48 hours and he’ll be fine.

“I thought Wardy [Dany Ward] was great when he came in, as he was on Tuesday night. The ball stuck and he was unlucky not to walk off the pitch with a goal.”

Ollie Turton was absent from the starting XI but did have a place on the bench. Duff explained the decision to drop the defender, taking the opportunity to hail the 31-year-old’s attitude.

Duff said: “He was only left out today because it would have been his third game in a week. I didn’t think physically it would be A, fair on him, or B, the right thing to do.

“He took it perfectly because we took the decision out of his hands. Ollie would have put his hand up and said ‘I’m alright’, Deep down, he knows he might not have been quite at the levels. I thought we looked tired anyway, never mind asking Ollie to go again. He’s the epitome of what we want.”

Fans tend to hold their breath when a player goes down injured, especially when a squad is already suffering with fitness issues.

There were fears when Matty Pearson went to ground in the second half, but Duff allayed any fears of a serious problem post-match.

He said: “We thought Matty had popped his calf - he’d just rolled his ankle in the end.”