It would be folly for David Wagner’s side to deviate too far from the approach that kept them up. Their challenge is to evolve a little, to survive but with a touch more panache

Guardian writers’ predicted position: 19th (NB: this is not necessarily Paul Doyle’s prediction but the average of our writers’ tips)

Last season’s position: 16th

Odds to win the league (via Oddschecker): 1,500-1

The three clubs who went down last season had been riding in the Premier League limo for a combined total of 25 consecutive years (Stoke 10, West Brom eight and Swansea seven) but, as each found out to their cost, that did not entitle them to goof around.

If relatively snug members of the establishment can be ejected for errors of judgment, then it would be folly for Huddersfield Town to deviate too far from the approach that kept them on board last season, their first among the elite for 45 years. Their challenge is to evolve a little, to survive but with a touch more panache. They could do it.

There is no sign of Huddersfield losing the run of themselves. All the signs are that they remain a happy and well-helmed club with a spunky determination to continue bothering richer opponents.

The manager who has inspired their rise, David Wagner, enjoys such a positive relationship with the club’s wholesome chairman, Dean Hoyle, that he and his coaching staff signed three-year contracts within weeks of securing their Premier League status in May, despite interest from glitzier outfits.

A new sporting director, Olaf Rebbe, formerly of Wolfsburg, has joined with Wagner’s blessing, filling a position that had been left vacant last season after David Moss’s departure in October. All evidently believe they can achieve their mission in West Yorkshire.

Having also retained all of their key players, Huddersfield will go into the season with the qualities that have served them well – starting with the spirit that helped to make them by far the most prolific tacklers in the league and enabled them to shake themselves free whenever they seemed to be in a downward spiral.

As for where they need to improve most, that is obvious. Failing to score in 21 of 38 matches, including all but six of their away assignments, spoke of a serious problem with penetration. The question now is whether they have addressed it sufficiently.

There were basically two related causes of last season’s scoring problems: the inadequate quality of support for the striker – especially from the wings – and the distance of that support in matches in which Wagner set out to defend deep. He came to fear his team would be regularly picked off if they charged at top-flight opponents in the way they had often done in the Championship.

So they pressed high less often and there were some matches, especially away, when extreme caution made a lonesome mule of Huddersfield’s solitary striker, either Steve Mounié or Laurent Depoitre. That was a pity because both players look capable of firing double-figure tallies in a league campaign if given more ammunition. But it was understandable.

Sometimes Wagner appeared to have lapsed a little too far into negativity and his reluctance to deploy two strikers could be vexing. But he did try other ways to remedy the scoring problems, either through tactical adjustments such as a switch to three central defenders, or by venturing into the transfer market in January, when the recruitment of the nifty Alex Pritchard proved useful.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Huddersfield are hoping the £8m winger Adama Diakhaby will improve their attacking play. Photograph: James Williamson - AMA/Getty Images

But the wingers remained unable to rise consistently to the tough challenge of both defending tenaciously and flying up to contribute to attacks with precision. In the end it made sense for Huddersfield to sell Tom Ince to Stoke in the summer, especially for around double the fee they paid for him a year ago. Collin Quaner may leave, too. A lot hinges on the calibre of the supposed upgrades on the wings, Ramadan Sobhi and Adama Diakhaby. They are young – 21 and 22 respectively – and bursting with skill and speed but both, to varying degrees, have been guilty of being wasteful in possession at the clubs that sold them, Stoke and Monaco.

It is far from certain they will make much difference but Wagner has good reason to trust in his ability to coach them towards the fulfilment of their potential. If he manages to hothouse Sobhi and Diakhaby (and Abdelhamid Sabiri, the 21-year-old who joined from Nürnberg in January), then they could maybe allow Huddersfield to play more on the front foot so Pritchard and Aaron Mooy can spend more time in positions where they can make mischief.

Evolution, then, could mean becoming a higher-grade version of the pressing side that got out of the Championship while retaining the defensive fortitude shown last season, when only seven teams in the Premier League kept more clean sheets. There is no reason to expect Huddersfield’s defence to be any less robust unless injury sabotages them – then their lack of depth could be exposed. As things stand, Christopher Schindler should continue to be an understated colossus at centre-back, where Mathias “Zanka” Jørgensen is a reliable partner.

Florent Hadergjonaj finished the campaign as one of the better right-backs in the league, which is why it was a boon he made his loan move permanent during the summer, as did the goalkeeper Jonas Lössl, a safe presence between the posts.

Terence Kongolo has also completed his permanent transfer, having done well at both left-back and centre-back after joining initially on loan in January. With Scott Malone having slipped down the pecking order, Kongolo’s main competition at left-back will be from two newcomers: the promising 20-year-old Juninho Bacuna and the German World Cup winner Erik Durm, who has joined from Borussia Dortmund in the hope of getting his career back on track after a couple of years bedevilled by injury.

Huddersfield’s defence also has the benefit of being protected by Jonathan Hogg, an underrated midfielder who always makes his presence felt. Philip Billing has the class to add another dimension to central midfield if, at 22, he develops consistency.

It was never going to be straightforward for a club of Huddersfield’s resources to go rapidly from being Championship relegation contenders to a swaggering Premier League side but they have made a fair fist of punching above their weight.

The Fiver: sign up and get our daily football email.

With less than a week to go before the closure of the transfer window, concerns remain about the depth of their squad and the quality of certain starters but some of their players remain underestimated, others have potential that offers hope and no one can doubt the sense of solidarity at a club that, under Wagner, has made a habit of summoning momentous performances even when seemingly out of form.

They secured their opportunity to build on survival by gaining draws at Manchester City and Chelsea in the final week of last season. They begin against the same sides before hosting Cardiff City in what may be billed as the first relegation six-pointer of the season or, even worse, an exercise in futility since both will end up going down. But let us not be blinded by the tangible. It would be unwise to bet against Huddersfield in a league in which at least three other clubs are worse run and have weaker resolve.