Huddersfield Town make playoff statement with convincing display despite Sheffield United result

That was everything Terriers fans could possibly have wanted from this game – except the result.

Huddersfield Town’s playoff credentials have been questioned from all sides, including ours, and a large reason behind that is a lingering doubt over their ability to get results against their fellow promotion contenders.

There is an argument that those doubts are misplaced. Town had, after all, beaten Blackburn, Nottingham Forest, Sheffield United and West Brom already coming into this game.

On the other hand, those victories over West Brom and Blackburn were the only top ten sides they had beaten at home, while they had also lost at home to Fulham, Forest and Middlesbrough, and the reality is that for Town to keep up their charge on the playoff places, they probably need to get at least two or three wins from the other sides around them in the table.

There was a huge amount riding on this game, then, not least because it would stand as an indicator of whether Town might be able to get those victories from their remaining fixtures against the likes of Bournemouth, QPR, Boro, Luton, West Brom and – next weekend – Fulham.

So what a game for Carlos Corberan to make a couple of bold selection decisions. Neither Jon Russell nor Josh Ruffels had ever started a Championship game before, but after impressing in the FA Cup and in training they were given their chance here, coming in alongside Pipa and Josh Koroma with Harry Toffolo, Ollie Turton Danel Sinani and Duane Holmes all dropped to the bench.

That lineup turned out to be an excellent decision, for the most part. Corberan has bemoaned all season that his side have lacked control and composure on the ball, but here they generally looked calm and composed in their own