Huddersfield Town desperately seeking a leader to follow after grim Roses loss at Wigan

After Tuesday’s end-of-the-pier show at nearby Blackpool, this was a similarly brutal watch in red rose county and the future looks wholly depressing. Unless a ‘Red Adair’ firefighting figure in the ilk of a Neil Warnock is called for.

Someone who truly comes alive in the dressing room and not exclusively on the training ground. Someone who wins hearts and minds and brings people together.

There is effort from those in the colours of Huddersfield, but no belief, conviction or self-confidence as it stands. Town’s players need faith. They desperately need to follow a leader.

So do their supporters, who came to Wigan in decent numbers and were again short-changed and punched in the stomach.

This was a dirge of a game, predictably tense and attritional in the best traditions of relegation six-pointers.

The fortitude in the final quarter when it mattered came from Wigan.

It was not pretty; it was never likely to be. But Wigan’s big dressing-room voices started to be heard and stepped up at a time when weaker minds would have played it safe and subconsciously settled for a point.

Wigan sensed uncertainty, weakness in Huddersfield ranks and their instinct was strong and true.

It would come as no surprise as to the player who made the difference either

Jack Whatmough, a mighty oak of a centre-half, pulled no punches beforehand and said that this game was the biggest since he had joined Wigan in 2021. A cup final.

Whatmough, who hails from the naval town of Gosport, took command and won his fair share in the defensive realm and then delivered the game’s big moment eight minutes from time.

James McClean’s corner was a good one and Whatmough had too much strength and power for Josh Ruffels - it was a mismatch in truth - and he bludgeoned in a far-post header and that was that.

Already this year, Huddersfield have seen six points slip through their fingers at the end of matches. It points to a mental fragility and their Championship contemporaries, particularly those in close proximity, have been wise to it.

To let your guard down once at the end of a run of games, key games, is unfortunate. Twice is careless. But four times, also factoring in costly concessions against Luton Town, Hull City and Blackpool is thoroughly reprehensible and a real problem.

A new face in the dug-out in the eminently likeable Narcis Pelach, but the same old problems, sadly.

Los Three Amigos - in the shape of Roberto Martinez, Jesus Seba and Isidro Diaz - brought sunshine after arriving in Wigan in the mid-90s.

There were no olés for Huddersfield’s two Spanish amigos in Pelach and Alvaro Reina here.

This game had a feeling of Dia De Los Muertos - day of the dead. Wigan and Town are on the floor. The signs of life came from the former.

Any elements of encouragement in the first half came from Town. It was fleeting, with the main development being a very unfortunate one.

The sight of an honest-to-goodness professional in Ollie Turton, in clear distress on the turf early on, was tough to see.

After attention, with a stretcher called for, the defender, visibly upset, was helped off the pitch by members of Town's staff.

There is a fair chance that Turton, only recently back from a nasty ankle issue, could be out for a lengthy spell with a serious knee injury.

Some vibrancy from Joe Hungbo, more especially when he escaped the clutches of Ryan Nyambe down the right and tested the reactions of Ben Amos, represented Town's best hope. Anthony Knockaert's work ethic on the other flank could not be knocked, but the book of spells has clearly amassed dust.

He fired wide in the sort of situation he has dined out upon in his career. Early on the restart, he was afforded another sight of goal. But he dallied. He faded and so did Town.

Wigan, in Shaun Maloney's homecoming, grew in voice as their fans scented a first win since November 12. They got their wish and it leaves Town’s season in an unholy mess.

Wigan: Amos; Darikwa (Pearce 59), Whatmough, Hughes, Nyambe, Power, Tiehi; Sinani (Fletcher 59), Lang (Aasgaard 77), McClean; Keane (Naylor 86). Substitutes unused: J Jones, Wyke, Caulker.

Huddersfield: Vaclik (Bilokapic 61); Turton (Boyle 14), Lees, Pearson, Ruffles (Headley 86); Hungbo, Hogg, Camara, Rudoni, Knockaert (Mahoney 62); Waghorn (Rhodes 62). Substitutes unused: Koroma, Kasumu.