Major Huddersfield Town situation dubbed an "absolute mess" | OneFootball

Huddersfield Town have had some rotten injury luck this season

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more...

Huddersfield Town's season has been very up-and-down, despite the fact the Terriers have continuously remained within the play-off picture.

After suffering a first relegation back to League One after 12 unbroken years as a Championship or Premier League club, many expected Town, under the management of Michael Duff, to immediately mount a charge for a first-time promotion back to the second tier, given the quality which the former Swansea City boss can call upon within his squad.

However, the West Yorkshire side's season has been plagued by a plethora of injuries to key performers, and such misfortune continued in Tuesday night's 1-0 defeat to Wrexham at the John Smith's Stadium, with Josh Koroma suffering a calf issue in the first half of the eventual defeat against Town's promotion rivals.

Unsurprisingly, when asked about what the club's biggest issue is at this moment in time, FLW's resident Huddersfield fan pundit, Nick Barlow, referenced what has been a revolving door at the treatment table in this part of West Yorkshire.

Speaking to FLW, Barlow began by saying: "The biggest issue at the club, by far at the moment, is our injury list.

"I've never seen an injury list like it," he stated. "I'm certain we've had the highest injury record out of any side in the EFL this season.

"I think we're currently at 31 injuries throughout the season, all to first-team players. It's been an absolute mess.

"Some of them have been freak injuries, a lot of them have been muscular. There has been talk of 'is it something we're doing in terms of training?', 'in terms of fitness assessments on some of the signings we're bringing in'," Barlow added.

"Pretty much every game, we're scared we're going to pick up another injury," he continued. "They tend to be an average of six-eight weeks as well, not short-term, and it's completely crippled us this season.

"Michael Duff, I feel really sorry for, because he's just not had a settled side and a chance to get his ideas across. We've had to change formation to try and accommodate players.

"Square pegs in round holes because we don't have enough players to fill key positions," our fan pundit claimed.

"It's been disaster after disaster on the injury front. So, I'm hoping for better luck next season.

"If we had a settled side and only half the injuries we've had this season, I am 99.9% confident that we could get second place, but it's not been meant to be, unfortunately," he concluded.

Since taking over the club in 2023, Nagle has been extremely vocal on club matters through his X profile, and that continued last month when he stated he would look into why so many key players have sustained long-term injuries, with it being reported last week that the absentees list at Huddersfield had reached double-figures after Jonathan Hogg and David Kasumu were sidelined.

The 70-year-old American then spoke to BBC Radio Leeds - relayed by the Yorkshire Post - on the matter in the build-up to the midweek 1-0 defeat to Phil Parkinson's side, stating that he holds as much intrigue on the predicament as all Town supporters.

"Let me say this much, when you look at the overall industry, meaning the footballers/soccer industry, we clearly see more injuries now than before. That one is established," he said.

"It’s not just Huddersfield Town, it's just a lot of other clubs as well.

"I think there is a recent-published record on that topic. But the reality is we are looking internally to see what it is.

"In my two years of being here, I have never seen more injuries than the entire 12 years that I have been in ownership in sport. I am very curious about it and very frustrated as well, as you can imagine," Nagle stated.

"Would you want to go and sign players for a whole lot of money, only to see them unavailable to play? So I am as interested as anybody else is."

After a run of three victories since the turn of the year, the West Yorkshire side have slipped down to sixth in the table and are just one point inside the play-offs after Bolton Wanderers' comeback against league-leaders, Birmingham City.

Next up for Town is an away trip to Bristol Rovers on Saturday afternoon.