Walsall 1 Huddersfield Town 1: Grayson left lamenting Town’s failure to take chance to seize control

Lee Novak fired visiting Huddersfield into the lead after just two minutes, but the hosts struck back shortly after the restart through Florent Cuvelier and the point was enough for Dean Smith’s side to secure League One survival.

After the game Grayson said: “I’m feeling strustrated because you saw the best of us in the first half and we could have had the game over and done with by half-time.

“I thought that we passed the ball around well, the shape of the team looked good and we didn’t look in any danger of conceding.

“We didn’t defend well enough in the second half and when we had the ball we didn’t keep it.

“In the first half we should have had the game won, but by the end of the second we could also have lost the game.

“We gave Walsall too many chances to get at us.”

Scott Arfield teed up Novak to smash clinically past goalkeeper Jimmy Walker to give Huddersfield their early advantage.

Novak, who now has 16 goals for the season, almost doubled his tally but he smashed an opportunity inches over the top in the 15th minute.

The hosts Walsall were a different proposition in the second half, however. They equalised when Cuvelier crashed home after meeting a cross from Mat Sadler.

Late on, Emanuel Ledesma almost nicked an unlikely victory for the hosts, but Ian Bennett saved well at the striker’s feet.

Walsall: Walker, Sadler, Butler, Lancashire, Beevers, Taundry,Cuvelier, Mantom, Ledesma, Macken (Grigg 78), Nicholls. Unused substitutes: Grof, Westlake, Hurst, Paterson.

Huddersfield Town: Bennett, Woods (T Clarke 21), P Clarke, Morrison, Hunt, Ward (Roberts 46), Johnson (Gobern 63), Arfield, Miller, Novak, Higginbotham. Unused substitutes: Smithies, Rhodes.

Referee: Tony Bates

Man of the match: Scott Arfield