Huddersfield: Aaron Mooy and Jan Siewert reveal what went wrong for relegated Terriers

Huddersfield were condemned to relegation with defeat by Crystal Palace

“It’s weird, to be honest,” said Aaron Mooy, the Huddersfield Town and Australia midfield player, on Saturday about the grim coincidence that his club had just been relegated on the same ground where it had made its Premier League bow in August 2017 with a confident 3-0 victory over Crystal Palace. “Our first game of that season then, getting relegated here. It was lots of our Premier League debuts; it was good memories.”

The memories of this season will be less good – relegated in March, which only Derby County in 2008 can match, with only three wins to date and 18 goals scored. They will beat the record of 29 defeats in a season if they fail to pick up another point from their six remaining games.

The way things have been going, that looks possible. Huddersfield hang on in games, but then someone loses focus and the opposition score. So it was after 75 minutes at Selhurst Park on Saturday when Juninho Bacuna fell for a Wilfried Zaha feint and brought the Palace forward down for a penalty.

“That’s why we are where we are,” Mooy said. “There’s a mistake or not switching on. Something always happens.

“I think the good start [last season] really helped us and gave us a boost. And then the important games at home where we had to get a result, we generally got that result. We kept picking up points. We’ve lost too many of those games this season. We never seem to get draws any more. You can’t fault anyone, it’s just mistakes.

“It’s disappointing but I think we did something that nobody expected us to do and we can all be very proud. The Championship year was incredible and staying up was really tough but we got there in the end and it was massive for the club.

“This year has been very tough and a learning experience. The club will have made a lot of money being in the Premier League for two years so it’s up to them to set it up right and give it a go in the Championship.”

Jan Siewert, the head coach, has won only once since taking over from David Wagner in January but he sees positives in the fact that the club is financially secure, even if some investment in a striker last summer might have staved relegation off for another year.

“In the Premier League players like Zaha decide games and my guess is that they are on big money,” he said. “That makes a real difference.

Aaron Mooy’s future is unclear after relegation (Reuters)

“But still Huddersfield proved what is possible if you have a real togetherness and it makes me proud to be a part of it. It was one of the reasons I joined Huddersfield Town although I knew that it would be a very difficult challenge.

“The club is a good club and for me it’s really structured. That’s a good thing for us to start in the Championship and then we can have a look at what’s possible there.”

However, he admitted that some players will leave, perhaps including Mooy. “We have to respect that and then trust the ones who will stay.”