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Danny Cowley admits Huddersfield lacked "ruthless edge" against Reading

Danny Cowley admits Huddersfield lacked
© Reuters
The Terriers are three points clear of the drop zone.

Huddersfield manager Danny Cowley accused his relegation-threatened side of lacking a "ruthless edge" in their 0-0 Championship draw at Reading.

In a dour match of few genuine chances, Huddersfield's 18-goal top scorer Karlan Grant was mostly well marshalled by the home defence and unable to add to his tally.

Reading were poor going forward and were grateful to goalkeeper Rafael for making a fine save from Alex Pritchard's deflected drive towards the end.

"I thought it was a really good performance," Cowley said. "We showed a lot more energy than we did on Saturday (drew 0-0 with Preston).

"We also showed much more attacking intent than we did on Saturday.

"But I was disappointed that we didn't take our chances. We lacked that little bit of coolness and that ruthless edge.

"But to keep three clean sheets on the trot – and at this time of the season – is a credit to everybody.

"I suppose we could be criticised for our final action. Maybe we had too many touches to get our shots off. Maybe we were trying to be too precise."

Huddersfield now sit three points off the relegation places.

"We're now in touching distance of reaching 50 points," Cowley said. "But we still don't know if that's going to be enough (for safety).

"We'll try to get to that mark as quick as we can and then we'll try to get to 51 and then 52 – and so on and so forth.

"But again, all those clean sheets are massive. We defended really well this evening because Reading are a very good team offensively.

"I'm not counting on the fact that Wigan might be deducted 12 points. We're just going to try to get the necessary amount of points to stay in this division."

Reading had won 5-0 at Luton on Saturday but struggled to break down a solid Huddersfield defence.

"We'll take a clean sheet, obviously," Reading manager Mark Bowen said. "You'll always be happy with that, whoever you're playing and wherever you are.

"We were a little bit nervous tonight and little bit lacking in the final third. We showed a lack of quality in that area.

"We just didn't do it where it counts.

"We had a few opportunities and, of course, Huddersfield did, too.

"We had good chances to get crosses in towards the end but we didn't do that, either.

"I suppose we really didn't do enough quality-wise to get the victory – and turn the one point into three points.

"Sure, our (poor) form at home is something that we have to be mindful of.

"We're aware of it and, in our own backyard, we'd like to get it sorted out."

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Tables
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
CLeeds UnitedLeeds45279973353890
2West Bromwich AlbionWest Brom452216775433282
3Brentford452491279364381
4Fulham4523111163471680
5Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest4518161157461170
6Cardiff CityCardiff451816116558770
7Swansea CitySwansea451716125852667
8Preston North EndPreston451811165853565
9Millwall451617125350365
10Blackburn RoversBlackburn451712166460463
11Bristol City451711175964-562
12Derby CountyDerby451613165963-461
13Wigan AthleticWigan451513175655158
14Queens Park RangersQPR45169206574-957
15Reading451511195854456
16Sheffield WednesdaySheff Weds451511195764-756
17Stoke CityStoke45158225867-953
18Huddersfield TownHuddersfield451312205166-1551
19Middlesbrough451214194660-1450
20Birmingham CityBirmingham451214195372-1950
21Charlton AthleticCharlton451212215061-1148
22Luton TownLuton45139235180-2948
23Barnsley451113214768-2146
24Hull City45129245784-2745

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