Huddersfield Town looking to strike right balance between highs and lows

To watch them nine days later against Preston North End in their next home game, it was as if it never happened.

Confidence is hard to fathom but judging by the timid performance against the Lilywhites, Town's 2-1 defeat at Rotherham United wiped out whatever was gained against the Tigers.

Building belief in the side who finished third in last season's Championship and are now in its relegation zone is difficult and Fotheringham's clumsy attempt at tough love this week may have undermined it.

"We had such a high against Hull and two games later everybody's disappointed," he commented. "I'm equally disappointed. But you've got to deal with the highs the same you deal with the lows, to be balanced and keep your focus.

"We've got to start working towards building a team that can win games – not just one, back-to-back wins. But I cannot fault their effort and application."

Fotheringham issued some harsh words in public after the Rotherham defeat and said things were more "aggressive" in the post-match debrief. He was angry at the goals conceded, and it was clear who he was angriest with.

"I’ve got my Japanese left-sided centre-back who’s a fantastic boy and played well against Hull, he's not gone to head the ball," he railed.

When Yuta Nakayama was dropped on Tuesday, some felt he had been hung out to dry.

"Yuta did well against Hull, and from the culture he came from (playing in the Netherlands) I don't think he was playing three games in a week often so we just tried to freshen it up," explained Fotheringham.

"I've not consciously gone personal on a player. It's not the way I work.

"I stick with players who make mistakes, I showed that with Luke Mbete and gave him his chance to start against Luton.

"I always try to pick my players on how they are in training but I've also got to look at the volume of games."