Huddersfield Town fan frustration hangs heavy in the air as Peterborough United loss adds to 'strange feeling'

On the surface, that appears a brutal - and perhaps even dramatic - statement to make. After all, Huddersfield sit fifth and are within six points of third-placed Wrexham.

Michael Duff’s men are very much in the promotion picture, yet those who watch them at home have been little to cheer since Christmas.

Their last home goal came on December 29, in a 1-1 draw with Burton Albion. Michal Helik was the man responsible for it and he is now an employee of Oxford United.

A 1-0 defeat to Peterborough United dampened spirits further, with frustration among the home faithful hanging heavy in the air.

"We're fifth in the league,” Duff said. “There's a weird feeling around the stadium. I understand supporters' frustrations, we're not delusional.

"We haven't scored a goal at home for a long time. We're fully aware of that, the quality needs to be better.”

Huddersfield showed an early desire to press high and Peterborough did not look particularly comfortable under pressure.

It did not deter Posh’s desire to play and for all their early signs of defensive frailty, Darren Ferguson’s side were direct and incisive in their ventures forward.

In a battle of two teams happy to keep the ball down, technical proficiency comes to the fore and it tends to the slicker side that emerge victorious.

Huddersfield’s carelessness in possession threatened to be their undoing on more than one occasion. Abraham Odoh and Ricky-Jade Jones were among the beneficiaries of loose passing but could not make the Terriers pay.

At times it was difficult to decipher what the Terriers wanted to do, with their plan proving difficult to work out - and not in a good way.

Structure was lost too easily and passing exchanges lacked fluidity and composure.

Peterborough broke the deadlock on the stroke of half-time, as Tayo Edun hung up a cross for Hector Kyprianou to steam through unchallenged and attack.

Conceding before half-time is never ideal but it is hard to imagine it will have significantly changed Duff’s team talk. Huddersfield needed to find inspiration regardless and the opener may just have raised the decibels in the dressing room.

Duff rolled the dice at the break and by the 71st minute, had made all five of his substitutions.

Fans waited for a rally, for Huddersfield to burst into life, but it simply never came.

It was particularly alarming how passive Huddersfield were in the dying embers. The clock was ticking with Peterborough’s 1-0 lead still intact, yet there was seemingly a reluctance to throw caution to the wind.

One of the reasons for this may have been the disjointed XI with which Huddersfield finished the game. The withdrawals of Radinio Balker and Nigel Lonwijk left the Terriers without a single centre-back on the pitch.

"It's tough to play any game of football when you don't have any centre-halves on the pitch,” said Duff. “We're having to come through some adversity, there's no getting away from it.”

Huddersfield are not down and out - far from it - but can only continue their struggles on home turf for so long.

It is something that could derail their promotion push and Huddersfield know more than most how the third tier can trap a club.

“There was a real lack of energy from the first minute,” Duff said. “I don't know whether it's the week that's caught up on us, I don't know whether it's the injuries that are catching up on us.

"It’s a strange feeling around the place - we’re fifth in the league but it feels like the end of the world. It’s not blind hope, we need to be better. But the players can clearly see it and sense it and feel it. Supporters are clearly frustrated. It’s a negative spiral. It’s our jobs to get supporters out of their seats.”

Huddersfield Town: Nicholls, Sorensen, Balker (Turton 43), Lonwijk (Hodge 65), Ruffels; Hogg, Kasumu, Wiles (Evans 45); Chirewa (Charles 45), Koroma, Marshall (Ladapo 71).

Unused substitutes: Chapman, Ayina.

Peterborough United: Steer, Dornelly, Wallin, Hughes, Edun; Collins, Kyprianou; Odoh, Hayes, Mothersille (Susoho 78); Jones (Ihionvien 56).

Unused substitutes: Bilokapic, Mills, Nevett, Conn-Clarke, O’Brien-Brady.

Referee: Darren Drysdale (Lincolnshire)