'Top-drawer': Huddersfield Town boss Michael Duff on why Jonathan Hogg will never be 'a spy in the camp'

That said, one episode earlier this month told Duff plenty about his captain and was particularly revealing.

After being ‘rested’ ahead of the midweek fixture at Birmingham City, Hogg was again left out of the starting line-up for the league derby with Barnsley four days later.

Duff acknowledged that Hogg was probably expecting to be recalled for a game of such magnitude – more especially given Town’s recent travails. He remained on the bench as an unused substitute.

The reaction of the Terriers icon was telling and emblematic of the mindset that Duff is trying to drive among his squad at Town.

Side before self. Speak to Duff’s predecessor in Andre Breitenreiter and it’s fair to say those qualities did not come to the fore among certain individuals, in his view, during the final months of Town’s relegation campaign.

On the reaction of Duff after being named on the bench for a second successive league game, Duff commented: "His response was absolutely top-drawer, a proper leader.

"He was disappointed, but didn’t start sulking and booting balls around in training and making it all about him and his ego kicks in and it’s: ‘me and you are going to fall out because I am not in the team.’

"He was a really good example with his behaviours. You’ve all seen players on the bench sulking, but he’s captain of the football club and he has got a good responsibility and the age he is getting to, he is not going to play every minute. But we still think he’s a good player and he has a role to play."

Accepting that there are going to be times when they are left out is part of the ticket for seasoned pros like Hogg, especially ones who operate in an area of the pitch where the physical demands are highest and the fixture itinerary sometimes offers no favours.

Setting the right example off the pitch - and not necessarily on it - during those times are what separates the average captains from the good ones and Hogg is definitely in the latter category. Matchday is just part of it.

Given the way in which Breitenreiter called out aspects of the squad culture in his time at the club, Duff was on ‘high alert’, in his words, when he arrived in the building.

While he can convey to his players what he expects, in terms of mentality and behaviours, he is also conscious of deferring to his captain in that regard.

The Town chief, whose side host Bristol Rovers this weekend, continued: "It’s alright having the tag of ‘The General’ and he (Hogg) has a lot of weight in the dressing room.

"We want him to manage the dressing room in how we want to manage it - but what benefits him and works for him and the group, he knows that better than I do.

"We have those conversations quite a lot, so we are helping each other. I don’t want a spy in the camp. I am not interested in that, I don’t go into the dressing room (in the training week), it’s not my domain.

"But I need to make sure it’s running properly and he’s got the support he needs to help him run it.

"You don’t have the career he’s had without being a good pro and the age you are. He’s been here, done it and seen everything, the ups and downs and he knows what ‘elite’ is, which is a good thing.

"People don’t know what they don’t know and when he (Hogg) nudges somebody and says: ‘Listen, I am not sure that is the way you want to be doing it’, it carries more weight than if I pull him (the player) into the office like a headmaster. As it goes in one ear and out of the other sometimes.

"We talk about splits in the dressing room last year and things like that. It’s important that doesn’t happen and we keep everyone’s noses facing in the right direction and when people try and look the other way, we keep them in the parameters of what is acceptable."

For Town’s emerging players, observing professionals of the ilk of Hogg on a daily basis is also beneficial.

For those who play in his part of the field like Tom Iorpenda, it’s imperative and pretty reprehensible if they don’t in truth.

Duff added: "Tom is in the first team dressing room now because we want him to learn from people like Hoggy with daily habits and what a real pro looks like.

"Everyone assumes it’s just the training and football, but it’s not. It’s the way they live their lives and the commitment. It’s not easy to be a footballer.

"Everyone wants to be a footballer and just sees the trappings. What they don’t see is eating spaghetti bolognese on Christmas Day and you can’t go out on a weekend because there’s a game.

"It’s the best job in the world, but there’s a lot of sacrifice that goes with it."