Huddersfield Town have sacked head coach Michael Duff after their 1-0 defeat at Bristol Rovers on Saturday afternoon, the Terriers have confirmed.
The former Cheltenham Town, Barnsley and Swansea City boss arrived over the summer following Town’s relegation from the Championship and has overseen a mixed season in League One so far.
Saturday’s loss saw Huddersfield drop out of the play-off positions after a run of just four wins in 15 games which has majorly weakened their chances of finishing in an automatic promotion place.
The West Yorkshire side were understood to be one the third tier’s big spenders over the summer as they sought an instant return to the Championship, forking out a fee believed to be in the region of £450,000 for Rovers’ player of the season Antony Evans.
In a statement, Huddersfield owner and chairman Kevin Nagle said: “This is not a decision that I have taken lightly. I really like Michael as a person and I know how diligently he has worked for the club since he was appointed as Head Coach in the summer, so we’ve all been desperate for him to succeed.
“However, our results on the pitch since the turn of the year have simply not been good enough. It is true that we’ve had an unprecedented injury situation to contend with, particularly recently, but I believe that the resources we have available are capable of more than the four wins we’ve registered in our last 15 games.
“I feel we must make this change now to reignite our challenge for promotion. I want to thank Michael, and I wish him all the best for the future.”
Huddersfield have also confirmed that Academy Manager Jon Worthington will take interim charge for the remainder of the 2024/25 season.
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A 10th minute goal from Ruel Sotiriou against the Terriers on Saturday was enough for Rovers to seal a massive three points in their bid to survive relegation from League One.
Huddersfield had chances of their own with Lasse Sorensen and Callum Marshall amongst the players who saw good opportunities to score fall to them.
However, the defeat leaves the Terriers two points outside of the play-off positions with 10 games remaining having played an extra match than sixth place Bolton Wanderers, who leapfrogged them after beating Burton Albion 2-1 on Saturday.
Bolton’s game in hand is against Rovers at the Mem on Tuesday night while fifth place Charlton Athletic, who are also on 60 points, play theirs away at Crawley Town. Victories for both would see Huddersfield end up five points outside of the top six.