Huddersfield Town stand up to Leicester City challenge with admirable grit but Stephy Mavididi strike sinks Terriers

It has been far from a glamorous summer for the Terriers, who have made two modest additions - an experienced goalkeeper and a defender on loan from a Championship counterpart.

Leicester City, on the other hand, have retained their Premier League spine while adding a couple of England internationals.

The might of Huddersfield’s opponents was not lost on Terriers boss Neil Warnock, who in his post-match press conference said: “They've got a good squad. The guy who went to watch them for me last week said ‘they've got two teams to get promotion here’.”

However, it did not play out like a mismatch as Huddersfield’s grit made it a tricky 90 minutes to navigate for the Foxes.

In a frenetic encounter, Huddersfield showed little hesitation in committing bodies forward and testing the Leicester defence.

Despite admirable perseverance and flair in the final third, Huddersfield could not beat Foxes stopper Jakub Stolarczyk.

The visitors, on the other hand, made a breakthrough in the second-half.

Stephy Mavididi beat Lee Nicholls at his near post with a low-struck shot after finding space on the left-hand side of the box.

Huddersfield upped the ante in the late stages and created some late chances but their efforts were in vain as the Foxes held on for the three points.

Speaking after the game, Warnock was buoyant despite having seen his side lose in frustrating circumstances.

He said: “I thought the three lads I wanted to come forward - [Brahima] Diarra, [Josh] Koroma and Sorba [Thomas], I thought they all did really, really well. [We were] disciplined, we had a plan of what to do when they had the ball because they're so comfy. I thought we didn't have that many major problems through doing it.

Although impressed by a range of performances, Warnock still outlined areas for improvement.

He said: "We probably could have been a little bit better on the ball at times, especially [in the] second-half. I thought two or three times, we had great opportunities to put somebody in.”

Huddersfield Town: Nicholls, Edwards, Pearson, Helik, Ruffels; Hogg, Rudoni; Thomas, Diarra (Jones 78), Koroma; Ward (Harratt 79).

Unused substitutes: Maxwell, Edmonds-Green, Rhodes, Hudlin, Jackson, Nakayama, Austerfield.

Leicester City: Stolarczyk, Pereira (Choudhury 84), Daes, Vestergaard, Doyle; Winks, Dewsbury-Hall, Marcal-Madivadua (Ndidi 54); Praet (Albrighton 84), Iheanacho (Vardy , Mavididi.

Unused substitutes: Ward, Justin, Iversen, Thomas, Nelson.

Referee: David Webb (Lancashire)