New coach David Wagner backed to get Huddersfield Town in tune

The German was in the directors’ box as the Terriers slipped to a fourth straight derby defeat to Leeds United.

Goals from Mirco Antenucci, Chris Wood and Alex Mowatt settled the game in the favour of Steve Evans’s men.

But Lillis, in temporary charge following the dismissal of Chris Powell last week, insists there were plenty of positives for Wagner, who left five minutes from time, to take out of the defeat.

“This is an exciting time for Huddersfield Town,” said Lillis, who will now return to his role as head of the club’s Academy.

“A defeat deflates me and deflates the supporters and the players. But there is a sense of excitement here.

“David was always going to leave early because he has to get back. I knew that. But I think he will go away with positives.

“He will have seen that this group does not give up. It keeps going right to the end and there is something to work on.

“David has a squad that has quality in it. It is also full of good lads with a good work ethic. They want to do well, both young and old. I think this is a good club and we are all in it together.”

Wagner has the international break to get to know his players before embarking on a tough trio of games that will see trips to Sheffield Wednesday and Birmingham City sandwich a home encounter against Middlesbrough.

Lillis added: “This two-week break will be a big help, as it gives him a big chance to work with the team. You need to get on that grass, as it tells you a lot.

“It tells you who is up for it, who the characters are and the ones you can count on. If you have that bit of experience, you can spot the ones that are up for it.”

Leeds manager Evans was delighted with not only a victory that took his side up to 15th but also the manner in which the club’s supporters got behind both him and the team.

He said: “If you did a straw poll from here to China, I wouldn’t be the choice when I first came in. But I wasn’t the choice at Rotherham or at Crawley.

“I only hope I can give them more days like this. The noise when Mowatt’s goal went in was incredible.”

In the last two international breaks, United’s players had the middle weekend off under Uwe Rosler but Evans has organised a friendly at Wycombe for Friday night.

He explained: “It is our way of working. The players were told that they won’t get a day off during the international break and, as you can imagine, that went down extremely well.

“But you can’t be having days off when you’re 17th and 18th and you are playing for Leeds United.”

Elsewhere, the battle of Yorkshire’s two highest placed clubs in the Football League went the way of Hull City as Middlesbrough slipped to a 3-0 defeat at the KC Stadium.

A season’s best performance by the Tigers brought a fifth successive league win for the first time since January, 2005 and the retention of top spot going into the international break.

With the likes of Robert Snodgrass and Adama Diomande due to return from injury in the near future and an experienced core having remained at the club following the closure of the summer transfer window, the odds on Hull making an immediate return to the big time look short.

Manager Steve Bruce said: “People were saying we were only going to be halfway up the Championship, this, that and the other.

“But, as soon as that window closed, the whole lot of them have tuned in. They have said, ‘Right, we are here now, let’s go and repair things if we possibly can’.

“That relegation is on our CVs, so we have to try and amend that if we can. In the last few weeks, we have looked a very good team for this division and let’s hope we stay that way.

“There will be times when we lose, of course, and times when we’re not having a good run. That tests everybody, but at the moment everyone is pulling their weight. Long may it continue.”

Snodgrass is due to return to action for the first time in 15 months tonight as the Under-21s host Crewe Alexandra. Diomande, meanwhile, is two weeks away from a possible debut following surgery.

Reports: Pages 2 & 3