Tight table can work to Huddersfield Town's advantage, feels Malone

Huddersfield Town's Scott Malone moves in on Stoke City's Moritz Bauer during last Saturday's Premier League match at the bet365 Stadium (Picture: Nigel French/PA Wire).

To put this into context, a year ago the respective gap stood at 12 points while in 2015-16 a relatively mammoth 20 points stood between Watford in tenth place and rock-bottom Aston Villa with 14 games remaining.

Huddersfield Town, Yorkshire’s sole top-flight representative, find themselves firmly enmeshed in this fight for survival with head coach David Wagner’s men sitting four points clear of Swansea City in 20th place and two points above the drop zone.

“It is tighter than it has been in other seasons,” said Terriers left-back Scott Malone when asked by The Yorkshire Post about the concertinaed nature of the Premier League table.

“That can help us because it means no one is adrift and every point matters. With it being so close, a couple of wins and suddenly a team can seem to be clear of the bottom three. Small margins.

“Those small margins went against us against Stoke (last weekend when Town lost 2-0) but, hopefully, our luck will turn next time in the league.

“The big thing is keeping our heads. We have a good group that all has the same goal.

“We can’t let the recent run affect us. The Premier League is tough, but we fight to the end.”

Town, winless in six league outings, take a break this weekend from the pressures of the fight to avoid the drop when Birmingham City head to the John Smith’s Stadium in the FA Cup fourth round.

After that, however, Huddersfield host Liverpool and then travel to Manchester United in the space of five days.

Such a schedule would be daunting at the best of times, never mind for a club that has taken just three points from a possible 18 and were well beaten in their last three league outings.

Town did, though, beat Europa League champions United on home soil in October and held out for 50 minutes against Liverpool at Anfield – something that gives Malone hope.

The left-back added: “Two tough games coming up after the Cup match, which means a quick turnaround. That is why a win against Birmingham can be so useful in terms of giving everyone a lift. Saturday is a tough tie, but we want to win it.”