Huddersfield Town caretaker boss Jon Worthington on a 'big decision' to drop Jonathan Hogg and annoying Ben Wiles

Worthington promoted Ben Wiles to the starting line-up, with Hogg, 35, handed a breather before coming on in the final quarter to help the hosts over the line and secure a precious 1-0 success over the Wearsiders.

Mindful of Hogg’s workload, Worthington took the decision to drop him to the bench beforehand, with another home game in under 72 hours against Yorkshire rivals Hull City on the horizon.

Worthington, who has taken six points from a possible nine in his impressive temporary stint in charge - which has featured wins over Sunderland and Sheffield Wednesday and an excellent performance at high-flying Southampton - said: "What a sub to turn to in a key moment of the game to help manage and see the game out..

"But ultimately, with people like Jonathan Hogg, it was a big decision.

"But it was to protect him as he’s such an important player for us and a player who will be needed in the run-in. The game against Southampton exerted a lot of physical effort from players.”

On whether there will be further rotation this weekend, given the amount of energy expended by Town in a demanding week so far, he continued: "We’ll see. I’ve tried in the three games to look at each individual game on merit and see where we can have the most impact.”

Worthington’s decisions to start with Wiles and hand the captain’s armband to goalkeeper Lee Nicholls, when Hogg was off the pitch, were vindicated on a night when Town moved five points clear of third-from-bottom QPR, who lost at Stoke City.

Meanwhile, Worthington acknowledged that the decision not to start with Wiles in last weekend’s game at Southampton - after the former Rotherham United player’s best performance in a Town jersey in his previous appearance against the Owls - was another tough one.

He added: “Absolutely. I spoke to him (Wiles) before the Southampton game to tell him he wasn’t playing and should be pretty annoyed he’s not playing as I would have been as he came on and had a real big impact in that game.

"But sometimes, you have to make those decisions. I knew there would be another opportunity coming soon.”

On making Nicholls captain with Hogg starting on the bench against the Wearsiders, Worthington said: “That’s why he was captain (his performance). I said he was captain because he was a big player and leader with a massive presence and he repaid that.”