Close but not close enough.
Football is a game of fine margins for Huddersfield Town at the moment.
Trouble is for Chris Powell’s side, they are margins of error.
Town were disappointingly caught out by a late goal for the second game in succession, and this time it was a winner not an equaliser.
Dutch midfielder Tjaronn Chery’s strike, sweet for the visitors, distinctly sour for Powell, came in the 84th minute.
Yes, it was against the run of play, and yes, it was tough on the home team, who have yet to chalk up a win in six games this time around.
But for all their possession, Town didn’t trouble Rangers keeper Rob Green nearly enough.
In those six games, five in the Championship, one against League II Notts County in the Capital One Cup, they have yet to score twice.
And Town have still not kept a clean sheet this term.
It seems a long time since those successive victories over Ipswich Town and Nottingham Forest, the only two recorded in 18 league games stretching back to that grim eight-day spell as February became March and Powell’s side lost against Charlton Athletic, Brentford and Rotherham United.
A Tuesday night trip to the manager’s former club Charlton awaits after Town emerge from the international break with an equally tricky Saturday, September 12 engagement against Cardiff City in South Wales.
And going into a fortnight without a game on the back of a home defeat is certainly not how Powell will have wanted to mark the first anniversary of his appointment.
Come Tuesday’s transfer deadline, the boss might find himself without star midfielder Jacob Butterfield, who remains a target of Derby County’s Paul Clement, a manager of whom a lot is expected at an ambitious club but who has yet to chalk up a maiden win.
And speculation continues to surround James Vaughan, who didn’t appear in the 18 against Rangers and is now being linked with Wigan Athletic.
Wigan have already taken his fellow frontman Jordy Hiwula on loan from Town, who say the former Manchester City player wouldn’t get the number of games necessary for his further development with them.
And clearly all is not well with regards to Vaughan, who has already been told his contract will not be renewed when it runs out next summer.
Powell, said by some fans to be too defensive in his approach, named both his other strikers, Nahki Wells and Ishmael Miller, in his starting side.
But clear-cut efforts on goal were rare, the best falling to Butterfield, whose first-half drive was thwarted by Green’s gloves, and substitute Martin Cranie, whose second-half header from a corner was hacked to safety.
Cranie came on when injured skipper Mark Hudson failed to appear for the second half.
Powell also introduced Joe Lolley, who came on for Sean Scannell for a first appearance of the season, and Mustapha Carayol, who replaced Wells for a debut after his loan move from Middeslbrough.
At that point, Town looked the most likely to break the deadlock.
But it was Rangers, rigid and resilient if unadventurous, who conjured the breakthrough, and piled on the pain.
