Huddersfield Town lost 1-0 to Crystal Palace at the weekend, in a result that David Wagner described as “unlucky”. Town dominated possession, created several quality chances, but weren’t able to find a cutting edge in front of goal. Crystal Palace looked pretty average and Town played the better football, but Wilfried Zaha scored an individual goal that proved to be the difference between the two teams.

Zaha needs to look in the mirror

I get the feeling that Wilfried Zaha came into this game with an agenda to complain about the slightest bit of contact and try to get opposition players sent off. The only bad tackle he received was when Zanka was rightly booked for a poorly-timed tackle.

Zaha’s post-match comments suggested he’s the victim of some widespread conspiracy to not send off players that foul him. However, Zanka’s challenge was a regulation booking and no where near severe enough to warrant a red card. He committed to a challenge, got it wrong, and the referee punished it correctly with a yellow card.

The foul from Zaha on Hadergjonaj a few minutes later was far worse in my eyes, particularly as it was clearly an attempt to hurt Flo. I’ve no doubt in my mind that Zaha was trying to take out a Town player, and it’s only luck that meant the Town man wasn’t badly hurt.

The goal that Zaha scored, and his ability to tear our defence to shreds at will, was impressive to watch on Saturday, but it’s a shame his attitude doesn’t match his ability. It makes it a lot harder to admire a player when he spends most of his time on the pitch flapping his arms about and badgering officials about imagined injustices.

The best performance of the season from Town

Despite the result, I’d say this was the most satisfying performance from Town so far. I came away from the game feeling pleased with the afternoon’s entertainment and confident that the results will come if we keep performing at this level.

The players on the pitch collectively played well, and there was more attacking ambition than we’ve seen in previous games this season. Billing and Mooy were both on form, and their distribution was superb and played a key part in helping us get into attacking positions.

There’s still work to do on our play in the final third of the pitch, but at least we’re now looking more threatening. Despite the lack of goals, we’ve shown we can lay chances on for Mounié from out wide, and if the supply keeps up then I think he’ll start scoring soon.

Still no place in the team for Pritchard

Alex Pritchard is one of my favourite players in the Town squad, so I was disappointed to see him not involved again on Saturday. The tactics were to get the ball wide, and whip balls into the box for Steve Mounié to head in. On another day the Beninese striker would have had a hattrick, so it’s hard to argue against the approach, but Pritchard wouldn’t have been much use trying to win those headers.

Given that Town are starting to play a bit better now without Pritchard, the diminutive playmaker cause for concern about his chances of getting back into the starting lineup. It seems that David Wagner’s preferred tactics don’t make space from him in the team.

Pritchard’s usual position has been taken out of the formation in favour of an additional defender. With Hogg suspended, the additional central defender has given Mooy and Billing licence to play further forward and spray balls around the pitch. But if Hogg goes straight back into the starting XI, it may also mean one less centre back is needed and allow for Pritchard to return too.

I’m personally looking forward to seeing Pritchard on the pitch, as I see his inclusion as a signal of attacking intent. When he’s on the pitch, it’s usually because we’re intending to attack the opposition, and need someone to link things up in the final third.

We might go down, but we won’t go down without a fight

It’s worth acknowledging that relegation is a definite possibility this season. We’ve had a bumpy start, and even though we’ve improved our performances in the last few games, we’ve still no been able to register our first win of the campaign. Our lack of goals means we’re almost certain to be scrapping it out in the relegation dogfight.

However, I’m happy to accept relegation if Town continue to play like they did on Saturday. It was frustrating to not finish the chances, but it was great to watch us go toe-to-toe with a team that’s wage bill is more than double our own and be unlucky not to win. If we continue this level of performance but don’t get enough points to stay up, then at least we’ll have given it a go.

The lack of fight in our earlier performances this season was worrying, but it feels like the fighting spirit has returned now. We’re never going to be the most attractive side to watch in the Premier League, but it’s good that we’re at least looking like we’re going to show a bit of terrier spirit and that’s all I want from Town.