Huddersfield Town manager Chris Powell hailed his players for battling their way to a precious first Championship win in five games after holding on to see off a strong Brentford side.
The visitors came into this game off the back of five straight wins in November, with boss Mark Warburton and striker Andre Gray being named manager and player of the month respectively and looking to make it a club-record sixth successive win at this level.
But Town had a sting in the tail as Sean Scannell opened the scoring and then forced Bees left-back Jake Bidwell to put through his own net before Jonathan Douglas struck as Brentford came back strongly in the final 20 minutes.
The Terriers held on though for their first win since the outstanding 3-0 win over Nottingham Forest at the start of last month and it left Powell singing the praises of each of his players.
"It was enjoyable for 80 minutes and then the last 10 were quite nerve-racking for all Town supporters" he said.
"I’m really pleased for them today, because it’s been a tough period for us. That’s what the Championship is like, but you want to do well and win; you don’t want to let people down.
"After the superb run we had, it felt as if we were ebbing away a bit and people were getting a little edgy; perhaps rightly so.
"However, I’ve got a decent team here and if we can reach a consistent frame of mind – particularly on the road – we can improve our season. There’s no shortage of talent and hard work in this team."
The battling victory kept up Town's impressive home form which has seen them now go seven unbeaten at the John Smith's Stadium after losing 2-1 to Middlesbrough in Powell's first game in charge.
And the Terriers manager felt his side were good value for their latest home win after taking the game to the division's in-form side.
"We’ve been really good at home because of the backing we have and the way we approach games.
"I’m really pleased with the points and the way we’re performing here, as our fans are. We’re certainly entertaining, which is what we set out to do.
"We had a real intensity to our play in an open game today. Alex Smithies made some good saves, as did David Button.
"I felt we were really brave playing two strikers and changing formation against a side arriving here on the back of five wins.
"We had a chance to kill the game at 2-0; I think a third would have really broken their spirit.
"We didn’t manage to do it and they scored, so invariably we were hanging on. We made some really brave blocks and still had chances to counter, so people certainly got their money's worth!
"I thought the players stood up to the test against a bright side and we’ve ended up with three points.
"Now things are a little bit brighter in the blue and white world of Huddersfield Town. We needed a result any which way – and we got it."
