Huddersfield Town transfer news: Mark Fotheringham issues bleak January forecast for Terriers fans

The head coach, who only took charge in October, saw his side’s Championship plight deepen on Saturday as they lost 2-0 at home to Watford, leaving last year’s play-off finalists at the foot of the table, seven points adrift of safety.

Huddersfield have been struggling to balance the books ever since relegation from the Premier League in 2019 and their problems are worsening with their run on the pitch.

Any hope Terries fans might have had that head of football operations Leigh Bromby might be able to recruit substantially in the January transfer window have not been allayed as Fotheringham admitted he would not look to make signings in the January transfer window because of a lack of funds.

He added: “We have got to continue to work hard and we need to keep building on this good team spirit we have got.

“We looked at Watford and they didn’t really create much but it was more their class players who finished their chances. All I can do is put my arm around these players.

“The fans are coming here, it’s freezing cold, they get excited by the first-half performance then they get deflated. I understand the fans’ frustration.”

Joao Pedro struck twice for the Hornets, firstly nine minutes into the second period when he was set up by a strong run from Tom Dele-Bashiru and turned his defender both ways before beating Lee Nicholls from eight yards.

With four minutes remaining, Pedro wrapped up the points with a header from a Ken Sema corner.

Huddersfield rarely troubled Watford goalkeeper Daniel Bachmann and their best chances came from Sorba Thomas corners, Josh Ruffels and Michal Helik both failing to find the target with headers in the first half and Jack Rudoni heading at Bachmann in the second.

Fotheringham said: “We wanted to bring a better performance. I thought we started really aggressive – on the front foot.

“We never really handled the big moments in the game which was disappointing.

“As a young head coach I am very proud of my players (for their effort).

“In the next few weeks we are coming up against teams around us in the table and we have got to get something from those games.”