Exclusive: Sky Sports pundit casts doubt over Huddersfield Town promotion push under Lee Grant | OneFootball

Don Goodman believes that Lee Grant may find it tough in his first season as Terriers boss

Huddersfield Town have ushered in a brand new era ahead of the 2025-26 League One season with the unexpected appointment of Lee Grant as their latest manager.

The Terriers waited months to make their appointment, with Michael Duff sacked in March as an automatic promotion push faded, but results got even worse under interim boss Jonathan Worthington, leading to a 10th-placed finish in the third tier of English football.

It wasn't the first season back in League One that anyone at the John Smith's Stadium wanted, but owner Kevin Nagle has decided to go in a curious new direction when it comes to the individual leading the team from the dugout, with a complete novice in the form of Grant taking the reins.

Don Goodman believes Huddersfield Town & Lee Grant will find League One tough in 2025-26

League One has lost the financial superpower that is Birmingham City back to the Championship, whilst Wrexham and Charlton Athletic - both of whom also had some money behind them - have gone too, but that will not make the third tier any easier next season.

The likes of Doncaster Rovers, Port Vale and Town's West Yorkshire rivals Bradford City will likely be competitive coming up from League Two, whilst the relegated trio of Cardiff City, Luton Town and Plymouth Argyle all have assets of their own that could be too good for League One.

And whilst speaking exclusively to Football League World, Sky Sports pundit Don Goodman believes that Grant is not going to have it easy in his first managerial role, and whilst club expectations will no doubt be for a promotion push, it could potentially be more of the same from last season.

"I'd probably give the same answer regardless who was at the helm of Huddersfield Town, and that is League One is going to be a very, very difficult league, a tough league, and Huddersfield will absolutely expect to be in the mix for at least a play-off spot," Goodman told FLW.

"It's a big club in League One, it's an ambitious club. It's not that long ago they managed to get into the Premier League, but you look at the opposition, and I'm particularly talking about Luton Town being relegated, Cardiff City you would expect to go big in trying to get back up, Plymouth even have got a very good squad for that level.

"And then you look at the clubs that remain. Stockport, Wycombe, Leyton Orient, Reading, Bolton - it's not going to be easy for Huddersfield, whoever is at the helm, to get involved in an automatic race."

Lee Grant's first managerial job will be tough, but Huddersfield Town's first signings are a good sign

There's no Birmingham City-esque powerhouse in League One for next season, although Luton Town do still have parachute payments, but the top end of the division is going to be as competitive as ever on paper.

Huddersfield are clearly undergoing a reset with their mass player releases in May, and it has given Lee Grant somewhat of a clean slate to work with - and the first two arrivals of Ryan Ledson and Marcus Harness are certainly statements for League One.

Both are experienced Championship players and have proven themselves at third tier level too, so it's a very good start to the recruitment process for the Terriers - especially with no sporting director on board yet either.