'Not great viewing' - Huddersfield Town man perfectly sums up their problems in play-off chase

Huddersfield Town defender Josh Ruffels says side have “got to find that bit of quality in the final third” after registering a 1-0 defeat at Lincoln City on Tuesday.

The Terriers were beaten by their 12th-placed opponents at the LNER Stadium in midweek as Reeco Hackett’s 35th-minute goal consigned Town to back-to-back defeats, with Jon Worthington’s side having also lost 4-0 at fellow promotion chasers Charlton Athletic on Saturday.

Having dropped out of the League One play-off places with their convincing defeat at the Valley, Town missed the chance to move back into the top six on Tuesday night, with the Terriers now sitting two points outside of the play-offs with seven games of their campaign left to play.

The Terriers have now failed to score in their past two matches after dismantling Crawley Town 5-1 in Worthington’s first game back in interim charge, with Town unable to register a shot on target in their latest loss at Lincoln.

Speaking to BBC Radio Leeds, Ruffels said: “A real disappointing night, especially [losing to] a set-piece. I think that’s probably the second set-piece we’ve conceded all season.

“There was nothing in the game, but we’ve got to find that bit of quality in the final third. I don’t think it’s really been there the last couple of games, and we’ve got to figure it out.

“It’s time for us to step up though. The people that have been here before, we’ve got experienced lads, we’ve got to really step up now and show a bit of fight and spirit, and show the fans what we can do really.

“I know we’ve got way more than that, we can open up anyone on our day, so I don’t really think that’s an excuse (Lincoln being good defensively). I think it’s there, we’ve got the players to do it, we’ve got the players to come off the bench to do it, and it’s really disappointing, that’s all I can say on it really.”

Tuesday’s reverse has left Town eighth in the League One table, on 61 points from 39 matches played. The Terriers have now lost six of their last eight matches, with Town having recorded five blanks in those six defeats.

Having begun their run-in with consecutive losses, the Terriers will now look to get back to winning ways when they host Mansfield Town at the John Smith’s Stadium on Saturday, 3pm kick-off. The Stags sit 17th in the division, on 47 points after 39 matches.

Town then host third-placed Wycombe Wanderers on Tuesday evening before taking on fourth-from-bottom Burton Albion away from home next Saturday.

Addressing his side’s current league standing, Ruffels said: “We’ve just got to keep going. There’s so many games coming thick and fast, there’s not much point looking at the table at the moment, because it’s not great viewing, so we’ll knuckle down and keep our heads down.

“Worthy the gaffer just said ‘look, there’s another game around the corner, so just don’t get down and keep going’.

“Training’s been brilliant, and it’s been a breath of fresh air the last few weeks, especially the international break. We got a lot of work done, we’ve just got to show it on game day now, and it’s down to us when it comes to the whistle.

“There’s lots of games coming up, and we’ve got to knuckle down and prove what we’re about.”