Tom Lees makes Huddersfield Town Premier League promotion call following play-off heartbreak

Tom Lees insists Huddersfield Town must avoid a “hangover” next season following their Championship play-off heartbreak. Despite being pre-match favourites and the division’s in-form side heading into the Wembley finale, the Terriers' campaign ended in disaster as Nottingham Forest eked out a 1-0 win to secure Premier League promotion.

The wound cut deeper for Town fans as referee Jonathan Moss controversially failed to award two penalties in the second half - despite having assistance from VAR. Carlos Corberan rued the technology after the game but refused to criticise the officials.

Now, centre-back Lees - who tasted play-off final defeat for Sheffield Wednesday against Hull City in 2016 - has urged his teammates not to slacken off as Huddersfield look to mount another promotion charge next season.

“I have been there before and it is difficult,” he told the Yorkshire Post. “There is a cliché in football that you can get a hangover next season and that is what we have got to avoid.

“We have got to go away and get over it and life does go on. If you look back at some of the nights we had in the season and some of the times, we have come off on cloud nine.

“It’s been a great season. But it was just hard to take at the end. I am sure at some point, we will look back and think we have done alright.

“It is rare to get a dressing room and squad like this and a group that is so close. We will see what happens. That is one of the hardest things, knowing that things might change and it might be the last time for this group.”