Huddersfield Town goalkeeper Jonas Lossl insists there are grounds for optimism

'THE place where the sun shines is only two points away,' is how manager David Wagner summed up Huddersfield Town's predicament after slipping to a seventh defeat in 10 outings at the weekend.
Huddersfield Town goalkeeper Jonas Lossl: Confident club can stay up.Huddersfield Town goalkeeper Jonas Lossl: Confident club can stay up.
Huddersfield Town goalkeeper Jonas Lossl: Confident club can stay up.

It was a neat turn of phrase and one that raised a smile or two among those of us in the press pack who follow the Terriers home and away in the top flight.

Town had just returned to the foot of the table and Wagner, while admitting his side’s defending in the 3-0 defeat to Watford had been way short of the required standard, was attempting to emphasise the point that all is far from lost in the quest to stay up.

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Sure, Huddersfield have just three points from a possible 30, but the failings of others mean Yorkshire’s sole top-flight representative are far from cut adrift.

Beat Fulham next Monday, in fact, and depending on how results have gone elsewhere over the previous two afternoons the Terriers could be out of the bottom three.

Jonas Lossl, despite cutting a disconsolate figure when leaving Vicarage Road, believes Town can do just that – providing there is no repeat of a display that had been way below the previous stirring efforts against Tottenham Hotspur, Burnley and Liverpool.

“It was a difficult afternoon at Watford,” the Danish international goalkeeper told The Yorkshire Post. “The defeat was harder than usual because we did not play good.

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“There was no way we could have stood there and said, ‘We were unlucky’.

“We were not unlucky. It was not good enough. But we have a strong team and a strong spirit. We will bounce back.

“I remember one game away at Bournemouth (when Town lost 4-0 against 10 men last November). It was similar to Watford. The feeling was the same after the match.

“But we bounced back after that and we can do that again. The quality is there, definitely. The dressing room cannot be judged on one game.”

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Huddersfield, of course, were not the first team to lose to the Hornets this term. Javi Gracia’s men have won six of their 10 league games this season and sit seventh in the table.

Nevertheless, the manner of the defeat was hard to take for a side who had been so unfortunate to take just a solitary point from those previous three games against clubs who had all finished in the top seven last season.

“Everything felt like a blur after the game,” added Lossl.

“But it was a hard game. We had a good feeling at first, coming out very strong in those first 10 minutes.

“It was just not good enough after that. People mention the finishing, but that was not the key against Watford.

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“One of the important things, yes, but not the key. We can’t blame anyone but ourselves for this defeat. We played poorly.”

After a tough start that has included meetings with six of the top nine clubs, Huddersfield follow Monday’s televised encounter against Fulham with another home game against West Ham United.

Four points or more would be a massive lift from the double-header against London opposition.

“We stay confident,” added Lossl. “We have to. It was difficult after the game, but now we process this defeat, learn from the mistakes and look forward.

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“Everyone in the team knows how well we played in those last couple of games before Watford. We need to get back to that. The manager said the same (after Saturday’s match) in the dressing room.

“He said that if we keep the performances up then we get results. But he also said we didn’t do that.

“We gave Watford way too many chances. We didn’t live up to the recent performances, both as a team and as individuals.

“But we stick together. It is one game at a time. It is still like that at this stage of the season. It has to be. We need to get back to the way we performed against Liverpool. That is the only way forward.”