Northampton v Huddersfield Town: Famed Terriers mentality faces biggest test after Joe Taylor blow

While supporters are still reeling at the news that big-money signing Joe Taylor is out for between four and six weeks with a hamstring issue, Town’s squad and Michael Duff must crack on, quite simply.

They have done it before regarding issues with a number of key players and must do so again, even if this particular blow is the hardest one of the lot to take in a 2024-25 season when disruption has stalked Town.

Their famed levels of resilience, fortitude and adaptability will be tested again in the weeks ahead. It is perhaps their biggest challenge yet, but it is one which won’t be shirked.

Duff, whose side have lost back-to-back games after a 16-match unbeaten league sequence prior to that, said: "It has been a difficult year and there's been a lot of change going right back to the very start and the players have had to learn a different way of playing while trying to change their mentality and that is not always easy.

"The Birmingham City one (game) is an obvious one, you speak to the manager afterwards and they got relegated (last season) and cleared the decks and got rid of 18 and anyone associated with the relegation left.

"We’ve not had that and I am not saying that is what we wanted to. A lot of the group is the same and you are trying to change that mentality and deal with that adversity and change negativity into positivity and they have had to go through a lot.

"Hopefully, on the journey, after a couple of losses - as disappointing as it is - they don’t fall back into a team of individuals because they have seen when they actually stick and gel together and face the same direction, they can be half a decent team.

"That's one thing I haven't questioned in the last two games.

“The referee put 10 (added) minutes up against Birmingham and we are going hell for leather and not just trying to survive.

"We were speaking to their staff and they were saying it’s the first time any team has done that to them this season and in the last half hour, they were just putting defenders on."

More than any other quality, mentality has served Town exceedingly well during a season which was unlikely to ever be straightforward and it most definitely hasn’t been. You require a strong jaw.

Duff added: "You don’t get promoted at any level without a strong mentality.

"You can have the best players in the world, but if they have not got a common goal or togetherness and a strong mentality, it does not work and does not matter how good the players are.

"Birmingham are the best team I have seen in his league, but they are all facing in the same direction as well, which is what you need.

"Any team who gets out of every league needs a strong mentality and sometimes you need a bit of luck as well. But we are not relying on it; we are not having a lot at the minute…

"Keep working, get your head down and try and improve on the things which were exposed in the past few games and just get better.”