David Wagner's Huddersfield Town side fell to a heavy SkyBet Championship defeat to an in-form Fulham FC side at the John Smith's Stadium .

The Cottagers have now won their last four league games, scoring 13 goals in the process as they continue to surge towards the Play-Off places.

But despite Fulham's impressive display, it is hard to ignore Huddersfield Town 's own ineptitude in a performance with was uncharacteristically littered with individual errors from a number of their main men.

Yet it could have been so different as Chris Lowe sent the home fans into raptures with an early penalty before the Cottagers replied with a shell-shocking four goals in the space of 30 first-half minutes.

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Despite a worrying run of form of just four wins in the last 10, Town remain firmly in the Play-Off picture and a win away at Wolverhampton Wanderers on Tuesday will still guarantee their place in the top six.

Ahead of the game, Wagner made three changes to the side which drew at Derby County on Easter Monday with the German head coach receiving the pre-match blow top scorer Elias Kachunga was unavailable due to illness.

Philip Billing came in for the forward while Jonathan Hogg replaced Dean Whitehead - the duo starting in the centre of midfield with Aaron Mooy adopting the advanced 'number 10' role.

Tommy Smith , rested at Pride Park, also returned in place of Martin Cranie while there was the welcome sight of Chelsea FC loanee Izzy Brown ’s name on the substitutes bench after recovering from a knee injury sustained away to Bristol City on March 17.

Buoyed on by the fervent home support, Town started with intensity and purpose and were rewarded for their early endeavours in the fourth minute when referee Andy Davies awarded a penalty after Chris Lowe was brought down in the box by Fulham forward Floyd Ayité.

The superb movement which led to the spot-kick, a long searching ball from the back by Michael Hefele, nodded on by Rajiv van La Parra into the path of Lowe was only matched by the German full-back's clinical conversion past Fulham's Marcus Bettinelli into the bottom right corner of the net.

The already deafening decibel levels cranked up another notch with the goal but Fulham reacted by showing the resolve which had made them one of the in-form sides in the league as they made a late surge towards securing a Play-Off place.

Scott Malone's low cross in the 15th minute found Ryan Sessegnon who blazed over the bar when he should have done better.

And if that was a warning sign it was not heeded by Town as a minute later Fulham were level – again the threat coming from the right-hand side as Malone dribbled into the box and squeezed a shot home from a tight angle.

Fulham FC's Tom Cairney (right) celebrates scoring his side's second goal against Huddersfield Town.
Fulham FC's Tom Cairney (right) celebrates scoring his side's second goal against Huddersfield Town.

But before Town could draw breath and regroup they found themselves 2-1 down – Hogg bringing down Ayité for a penalty which was expertly dispatched by Tom Cairney.

From there the visitors dominated the first-half proceedings and added a third in the 36th minute; Danny Ward left wrong-footed after Sessegnon's deflected shot fell to Stefan Johansen who drilled it back the Town stopper.

Things then went from bad to worse on the stroke of half-time as Johansen grabbed his second of the game – stealing the ball from Hogg after a poor pass from Christopher Schindler.

The fact two of the most exemplary performers throughout the entire season were at fault for the goal epitomised how poorly the entire side had performed in the first-half.

With the score at 4-1 at the interval, it was a case of damage limitation for the second 45 minutes with Izzy Brown and Sean Scannell entering the fray for a run-out after their recent injury lay-offs.

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And the introduction of Brown for Billing immediately brought more balance to the Huddersfield Town side with Mooy dropping deeper to partner Hogg in the middle as Wagner's side went about restoring some pride after the first-half capitulation.

But it wasn't to be as the final whistle blew on a defeat that will naturally hurt but more so due to the manner of it in front of a home crowd who devotedly sang and supported the side throughout.

The only cold comfort for those supporters and indeed Wagner's side will be the defeats for Leeds United and Reading mean Town are still one win away from securing a Play-Off finish with three games to play.