Huddersfield caretaker manager Mark Hudson has claimed his players are not fit enough after they suffered yet another defeat, going down 2-0 at home to Reading.
The Terriers have now gone 16 games in all competitions without tasting victory and have amassed a woeful seven league points in 2019.
Despite being on top against the Royals for a large portion of the game, the visitors secured the win thanks to opportunistic strikes from Ovie Ejaria and Michael Morrison.
“It’s a fitness issue – we’ve not worked hard enough,” said Hudson, who has now lost both games since succeeding Jan Siewert at the helm.
“It’s not good enough but we are where we are.
“We need to get fitter, better and stronger.
“It’s not about training for two-and-a-half hours on the grass every day.
“It’s about being specific in what we do and putting our stamp on things and working on stuff that we do, such as the high intensity.”
Town showed plenty of effort going forward but lacked the genuine quality when it came to the opposition box.
Hudson wants his players to go the distance and put on a performance for the entire game, rather than fading out of contests midway through the second half.
He added: “The players put in on the pitch what I asked of them and you could see a clear improvement.
“But we hit the target twice out of 11 shots and that’s not good enough.
“We need to continue to play that way, but do it for 90 to 95 minutes.”
The first half was a forgettable affair and Town came out the brighter after the restart but once again their profligacy in front of goal showed, with Karlan and Alex Pritchard both having good chances.
But once again the Terriers’ defensive woes were apparent on 71 minutes.
Liverpool loanee Ejaria exchanged passes with John Swift before picking out the bottom corner with a neat finish.
It was looking like a matter of when, not if, Reading would double their advantage and it duly arrived from an unlikely source.
Centre-half Morrison rose to deftly nod in from a corner – a goal that knocked the stuffing out of the hosts.
Reading boss Jose Gomes praised his squad after they made it four games without loss.
The Portuguese said: “The victories always feel good.
“We were strong and didn’t allow them to shoot to our goal.
“In the second half, we controlled for more periods than we did in the first half.
“I’m happy with my players after a tough week.
“But we have taken seven points against two teams that were in the Premier League last season and West Brom, who reached the play-offs.
“It has been a very positive week for us and my players are giving lot of positive signs.”
