Huddersfield Town cover bases as Sheffield Wednesday stay on track in January window

That is the unequivocal message from Huddersfield Town's statement signing Anthony Knockaert. As far as the Terriers are concerned, it is just as well.

In need of a lift after a flat start to 2023 and a fraught Championship season, the relegation-threatened Terriers, who head to Yorkshire rivals Hull City on Saturday afternoon, most definitely have that following the loan signing of the Fulham winger.

Second-from-bottom Town followed up the capture of Knockaert with the loan addition of striker Martyn Waghorn from Coventry City on Friday evening.

The arrival of Knockaert, 31, the Championship's player of the season in 2016-17 and someone who has been promoted four times from the second-tier, is the signing which - with all due respect - has got the pulses racing among supporters.

Knockaert, who has arrived back in England after a spell in Greece, said: "The more pressure there is, the more I enjoy and love it. It makes me want to be even better.

"It is a big challenge. But in my head and how I see it myself, it is not as big as people think.

"If you look at the table, it's really close and winning a few games and gaining good momentum can bring the team back to where it should be.

"Hopefully, we can do this and change it quickly around. We will do everything possible.”

On big expectations from Terriers fans, he added: "It's part of football - like at the big clubs when a big signing comes in and they expect a lot from him, which is normal. I understand that and you need to take responsibility.

"It has been an incredible thing for me to see the reaction and it is also a big boost. I cannot wait to meet them for the first game at home on the 28th of January and get started.

"I see the facilities of this club and where it was a few years back and this football club has grown so much during the last few years and I want to give my best to make sure this club stays in the Championship and go back to the good days."

The signing of an off-the-cuff talent capable of making things happen in the final third in Knockaert will add a much-needed creative option for a side who have not just struggled for goals, but in making opportunities.

For Fotheringham, such players are worth their weight in gold.

He continued: "At the back end of my career at Nottingham (Notts County), I played with Jack Grealish and he was incredible.

"He was a phenomenal player and played with personality and confidence and there was another young man in there who is now captain of Celtic in Callum McGregor, who I hold very dearly to myself.

"He is a maverick and maestro who controls games single-handedly. You have to give room for these type of players in my squad."

Darren Moore says Sheffield Wednesday have learnt the lessons of his first transfer window at the club, and will take the next couple of weeks deciding whether or not they need to replace Mark McGuinness and Alex Mighten.

Both have had season-long loans cut short - centre-back McGuinness at Cardiff City's behest, winger Mighten after a conversation Moore said was one of the most difficult conversations he has had as a manager.

On the face of it, losing two players from an already tight squad whilst rivals Plymouth Argyle and Ipswich Town are busy in the market would point to a need for recruits, but the manager will take his time deciding if they are needed.

"In my first window here (summer 2021) we signed about 12, 14 players in the space of two weeks," he recalled.

"Those signings brought a real excitement but I knew those players weren't fit and it proved the case after the first month.

"Things were learnt from last season that have been applied this season.

"They are aspects we'll take into consideration in this January window.

"We'll look at who's available, who's not, who have we gained in terms of coming back into the squad (after injury) and who have we lost.

"It can go either way (in terms of signing players or not) and I'm absolutely open to that.

"This gives us a chance to look at where we're at. If we feel happy, that's great, if not then within these next couple of weeks and we feel it's right, we feel we can strengthen.

"But we won't get too many bodies in for the sake of it."

Moore says both loans and permanent signings are possible if he feels the need before 11pm on January 31.

Nottingham Forest manager Steve Cooper has criticised Moore for sending Mighten back, saying: "I think if you bring someone in on loan you commit to it" but the Owls manager feels the decision was correct, albeit difficult.

Having appeared for Forest in August, the only way 20-year-old Mighten can play first-team football again this season is by breaking back into their bloated squad.

"It's the dynamics of football," said Moore. "He (Mighten) is an exceptional man. It was one of the hardest things I had to do since being a manager to look him in the face and talk to him on that level,” added Moore, who does not expect more departures.

Additional reporting Stuart Rayner