We knew this time would come.

And it’s now the time to get tough.

The next few months could be hard work for Huddersfield Town, but they are not going away and so it needs a positive response from everyone at the club, including the fans.

Even though it’s still very tight, Crystal Palace and West Ham United have now edged themselves away from the danger zone in the Premier League and, in all honesty, it now looks like a fight between six teams to stay up.

By that, I mean going by the bookmakers’ prices.

It’s felt Southampton have probably got a bit too much about them to go down, and likewise Bournemouth, going by punters right now.

So the three promoted teams – Town, Brighton and Newcastle – plus the current bottom three of Stoke City, West Brom and Swansea and the ones thought to be battling the dreaded drop.

It’s a bit of a cliche to say that Town’s visit to Stoke City is a ‘six-pointer’, but Town really can’t afford to lose it.

The draws they got around Christmas to complement the win at Watford were fine, but what a boost three points would give us at this stage!

Squads are tired and injuries are taking their toll, but it’s the same in every Premier League squad.

David Wagner knows exactly where he is and, as I have said before, the two quality additions so far in this transfer window – Terence Kongolo and Alex Pritchard – will be welcomed into the squad.

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How Town play doesn’t strike me as a straightforward ‘stick one player in and tell him how to play’ kind of set-up.

Players have to spend time on the training ground, working to understand their responsibilities at every moment of a match.

West Ham showed us last Saturday how clinical some of the top sides can be, but what I like about Wagner is his honesty.

He immediately recognised the Town performance wasn’t good enough, so everyone dusts themselves down and moves on.

I’m sure the boys will be on the front foot again at Stoke, and let’s hope the luck goes our way.

There is a huge amount of luck, maybe with a deflection or a refereeing decision, but that type of thing can play a big part in the outcome of matches at the top level.

The more positive you are, the more of those 50-50 decisions are likely to go your way - so the positive response to last week is what it’s all about.

Elsewhere, it’s pretty clear that Kelechi Iheanacho of Leicester City is going to be a name to remember.

He will be the subject of sports quiz questions for many years to come, being the first player in English football to score a goal through an overturned VAR decision.

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That was a positive from Tuesday night’s action, with the correct decision being reached, but we saw at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday just how difficult the Video Assistant Referee system can be.

Penalties and diving are always so difficult to judge, with how much contact has forced the player to go over.

Clear and obvious is the phrase being used by the FA and referees about decisions being overturned.

Offsides and handball decisions, well they are much easier, but it’s always going to be contentious when contact is made between an attacker and a defender.

One thing is for sure, Southampton would be two points better off than they already are after Abdoulaye Dourcoure’s late handball equaliser for Watford.

VAR is coming whether we like it or not, however, so it’s about us making the best use of it in the most sensible way.

It will be on every talk show, football highlights programme and radio debate from next year onwards - not to mention podcasts like the Examiner’s Ooh To Be A... – but it already feels like it’s going to be here to stay so we’d better get used to it.