Wigan Athletic v Huddersfield Town: Michael Duff's Terriers showing resilience in rebuild

They showed it to pick themselves up off the floor after a run of seven defeats in eight matches in all competitions in the first half of the autumn.

Michael Duff's fourth-placed side, who have also had to contend with an ongoing spate of disruption on the injury front since the first ball was kicked in August, have also shown a strong jaw of late. It explains why they start the new year in possession of a 13-match unbeaten league run. It has not always been pretty, but Town have proved themselves to be hard to beat, with events on a poor day on Sunday against Burton being a case in point.

Duff said: “It’s a very long season and you are not always going to have that upward trajectory and you will have bumps in the road.

"It’s about when you do have those tough patches, it’s how you cope with it and learn from it to get out of it.

It’s always going to happen and every team is going to go through a stage."

While Town have yet to earn back the full trust of supporters following the grim events of last season, they have at least secured their respect back in terms of their commitment and endurance levels, which is at least something after a pretty awful 2023-24 relegation campaign.

They start the new year at Wigan, a venue where their previous 2022-23 season - another battle against the drop - reached a nadir before a certain Neil Warnock entered the building.

The veteran manager, for one, will have surely been impressed by Town's fortitude under Duff this season.

The Town chief added: "We damaged ourselves (earlier this season). We won our first three home games of the season and then turned in two performances like Northampton and Blackpool.

"The supporters are going to go: ‘here we go again, we’ve seen this before.’ Because there’s a lack of trust. We need to show them we are (continually) working and it’s hard.

“You walk off after the game and I’m absolutely shattered, I can’t wait to get home and go to bed. And already we’re thinking about the next one.

"It’s been tiring and hard, but that’s the job we are paid for and we don’t want any sympathy."