Losing can be wake-up call for Town – Clark

The Terriers slipped to a 2-0 defeat at Charlton Athletic on Monday night, the club’s first reverse in a regular league game in 2011.

It brought to an end a 43-game unbeaten run that had seen Huddersfield set a new Football League record by eclipsing the previous best tally of 42, set by Nottingham Forest more than three decades earlier. With Town already out of the FA Cup, Clark’s men are not back in action until a week on Saturday when Bournemouth, the club they beat on penalties to reach last May’s play-off final, are due at the Galpharm Stadium.

Clark said: “We have got time now to prepare for the next game and to put things right because the only way you can do that is out on the football pitch.

“Hopefully, this result will act as a little wake-up call for everyone – we have got to kick on now.

“Nothing is won at this stage of the season, as Chris (Powell, Charlton manager) said before the game. I have been in teams that have won championships and we never felt that we had it won in November.

“We have got to make sure there is no hangover, dust ourselves down and go again. Football is a big boy’s game and sometimes you will get a knock back and you just need to move on.”

After taking on the Cherries, Huddersfield are then due to travel to Sheffield Wednesday – the club who have replaced Clark’s men in the top two.

Captain Peter Clarke admits everyone in the Terriers’ camp was disappointed by Monday night’s defeat at The Valley but he is also adamant that the players will react in the right way once back in action.

He said: “There were spells in the game where we pressurised them and reached the high standards that we have set ourselves.

“Despite that, you have to give credit to Charlton.

“They showed why they are at the top of the league and we now have to react in the right manner, bounce back and get a result against Bournemouth.

“That is now a very important game.”

Clark, too, saw reasons for optimism despite the ending of the club’s proud unbeaten run by leaders Charlton.

The Town manager added: “There are positives to take from our second-half performance, but in the first half I felt we went down with a bit of a whimper.

“In the first half, we didn’t fight like we have done in the past.

“We had a right good go in the second half and worked Charlton’s back-line and ‘keeper hard,” he added.