So near and yet so far.

Huddersfield Town were within minutes of chalking up what would have been a great win over Norwich City on Tuesday.

Now they need to build on that battling performance when they host another of the sides relegated from the Premier League last season in Fulham.

Norwich are making a much better fist of getting back at the first attempt than the Londoners, who had 13 seasons at the top table and memorably made the final of the first Europa League tournament in 2010.

Roy Hodgson was the man at the helm when Fulham were beaten 2-1 by Atletico Madrid in Hamburg.

There have been five managers since, including three last season in Martin Jol, Rene Meulensteen and Felix Magath.

Current boss and former Fulham and Wales player Kit Symons took over in September.

He has hoisted the Cottagers off the foot of the table (they took just one point from their first eight league games as they made a shocking start under Magath).

But, like Town and so many others in the Championship, consistency has proved elusive.

Symons has presided over 11 Championship wins, three of them away.

But Fulham have lost 20 of their 38 league games this season, and having been 13th at one stage, are now 21st.

That is four places and four points behind Town and six points above the drop zone.

Symons’ side have won just one of their last 11 and lost seven in that sequence, including a 3-0 home defeat by Leeds United on Wednesday.

That means the pressure for victory is firmly on the 44-year-old, who now has Alan Curbishley on his coaching panel.

Town manager Chris Powell was twice signed as a player by Curbishley when he was manager of Charlton Athletic, adding an extra element of interest to the John Smith’s Stadium clash.

After successive draws, Powell will be desperate to record the first win in six which is so craved by the supporters.

The performances away to Birmingham City and against Norwich have helped ease the concerns which followed the defeats by Charlton, Brentford and Rotherham United, but it’s a three-point haul which would really put some smiles back on faces.