HUDDERSFIELD Town players are desperate to end the season well, not only for themselves and the club's supporters, but someone else who is watching events from afar.

Namely head coach Liam Manning, who is currently on compassionate leave due to ongoing personal matters relating to the tragic loss of his newborn son Theo in October 2024.

Manning remains in the thoughts of everyone at the Accu Stadium and captain Ryan Ledson is unequivocal in his declaration that one of the big motivations to produce a positive finish to a difficult campaign revolves around the 'gaffer'.

Ledson said: "It's obviously a difficult situation, and I can't really say too much on it because I don't really want to, because he is a fella who is really going through a bit of a tough time.

Huddersfield Town captain Ryan Ledson celebrates scoring his side's second goal in the recent game against Lincoln City. Picture: Jonathan Gawthorpe

placeholder image — Huddersfield Town captain Ryan Ledson celebrates scoring his side's second goal in the recent game against Lincoln City. Picture: Jonathan Gawthorpe

"It's for us now to galvanise together and do it for him, because ultimately we want him to come back and this club to be in a better position, so that when he comes back through the door, we can go: 'We've done it for you, gaffer'.

For a number of reasons, Town would, naturally, dearly love to extend their season beyond May 2 and secure play-off participation.

They have significant work to do in order to achieve that - and a second away win of 2026 would certainly aid their cause significantly in that regard.

But one thing that must surely be a non-negotiable is the sight of Town ending 2025-26 on the front foot and giving it a right good go after dismal ends to the previous two seasons.

Huddersfield Town head coach Liam Manning. Photo: Tony Johnson.

While finishing in the top six looks a tough proposition - with few observers likely to be putting their mortgage on it - no-one is giving up the ghost just yet, insists Ledson.

The former Preston midfielder, who joined the club on a three-year deal last summer, continued: "It's crunch time. We can't get that back (what has gone before), so now we're looking forward, and we need to win as many games as possible, get as many points on the board as possible, and we'll take it from there.

"It's massively important, and that's what we spoken about - a positive end to the end of the season and fingers crossed we can get to where we want to get to and that's the aim, really.

"Nothing else has really been spoken about next season or whatever, it's on these games and us performing to the best of our ability to hopefully get in there."