Huddersfield Town v Charlton Athletic: Terriers must earn 'credit in the bank' with supporters, insists Michael Duff

AMID spendthrift times in the run-up to Christmas, Michael Duff is wise to the notion of his Huddersfield Town players accruing some credit in the bank.

The Terriers have six games to fit in between now and the festive season - ten if you count the games up to and including January 4 - with six being at home.

Form at the John Smith's Stadium, taking aside successive league losses in September to Northampton Town and Blackpool, has been reasonable, in fairness.

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But in terms of the season 'in the round' so far, home and away, it's fair to say it's been a bit of a temperamental first half of 2024-25, with setbacks accompanying positive results in equal measure.

Huddersfield Town head coach Michael Duff. Picture: Bruce Rollinson.Huddersfield Town head coach Michael Duff. Picture: Bruce Rollinson.
Huddersfield Town head coach Michael Duff. Picture: Bruce Rollinson.

It's why Duff accepts that his squad still has to secure the trust of supporters still not fully over events from the last campaign. It takes time to earn it and some good results between now and the new year on home soil especially would certainly aid in the process.

Duff said: "The two home losses put us on the back foot a little bit really as everyone assumed ‘oh, it would be six points’ and it really wasn’t. "We want to make this place uncomfortable and we don’t want people enjoying coming here.

"We’ve shown signs of being a tough team to beat, particularly here. It’s relationship building and us building trust with supporters, so they don’t see a ‘Tamworth.’

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"You are going to have them every now and again, but in games more than anything we’ve had a 45 or a 60 (minute performance) and then a really dodgy 30 minutes and it’s ‘where’s that come from?’

"We need to try and eradicate that and then hopefully supporters will see that and come with us.

"But the supporters have been good. We are fully aware of where we are with the relationship and it’s on us to get them off their seats at the minute, not the other way around.

"And as it grows and grows, hopefully later in the season when we need them, they will come with us."

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Testament to the fact that League One is no picnic is showcased by the arrival of Charlton, a club who see their preserve to be higher than the third tier like Town, but who must earn the right to get out of it first - which doesn't necessarily happen overnight.

Duff added: "They are a big club and they’ve had a lot of change. If you look in the last three or four years, they have had loads of managers.

"I know the budget and you look at the amount of supporters that they have got and they have an ex-Premier League manager in charge. He wouldn’t have gone there if they weren’t a big club.

"Nathan is dealing with a lot of similar problems of inconsistency. They have some good players, but if anyone knows Nathan Jones, they have to fight.

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"They have been at this level for quite a long time now, which goes to show it’s not just as easy as throwing money at it and or just changing the manager. You need to build something and I’d imagine Nathan is hoping he gets that opportunity to do that."

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