Jon Stead concedes Huddersfield Town display against Mansfield Town was a 'shock' as he makes future admission
Huddersfield Town’s co-interim boss Jon Stead reacts to the Terriers’ 4-1 defeat to Mansfield Town
Jon Stead admitted to being unsure of what the future holds after Huddersfield Town’s 4-1 defeat to Mansfield Town.
Having seen the play-offs move beyond reach, Huddersfield hosted Mansfield for a dead rubber in the penultimate game of their underwhelming League One season.
The Terriers delivered an abject display and were put to the sword by goals from Lucas Akins, Regan Hendry and Oliver Irow, as well as a Murray Wallace own goal. Marcus Harness struck on the hour mark between Mansfield’s third and fourth goals, but it only briefly and ever so slightly lifted the mood.
Jon Stead’s admission over future
Stead is at the helm on a temporary basis alongside Martin Drury, with Liam Manning on compassionate leave, and conceded there is uncertainty with the season approaching an end.
“Obviously, things need to be fixed,” said Stead. “Problems need to be solved, as they do at every football club.
“Yes, we're assessing stuff, but it's hard because we're unsure at the minute what's going to happen next season. Even as staff, your own roles are a bit uncertain.
“You're just trying to tick as many boxes as you can and make sure we're giving the right information to the people above so that they can make the right decisions. We're all working on that day-to-day and I'm sure things will become a lot clearer probably from the end of next week onwards, I would have thought.”
‘Shock’ at Huddersfield Town performance
Huddersfield looked particularly frail at the back, although there was a dire absence of urgency all over the pitch.
Stead and Drury have been complimentary of the atttitudes of players since taking the reins but were left surprised by what they saw in the final home game of the campaign.
“I'm surprised in the performance,” said Stead. “I'll be honest, because it wasn't what I was expecting.
“Mansfield were everything we expected, we knew what the game was going to look like, and I think we've probably said that across every game we've played in our time.
“We didn't compete, and that's where the disappointment and the frustration comes from, because I didn't envisage that in terms of that bit lacking, because we haven't questioned that at all.
“They've put that in every single game, so it was a bit of a shock, and it felt like a bit of a slap as well. I know that's probably not what it is, but it felt like that, because it's just not what we expected.”