Honest player-coach Gareth Lewis has conceded his Huddersfield side will start the New Year involved in a battle to avoid relegation.
The men from Lockwood Park slipped into the bottom four of the National II North table for the first time this season in the wake of their 29-13 defeat at fourth-placed Harrogate.
With the campaign having reached the halfway stage a fortnight ago, Huddersfield are just four points ahead of Luctonians – who visit West Yorkshire on January 3 – nine in front of Hull and 23 clear of bottom club Stockport.
But even though there was more than enough in their performance at Harrogate to suggest they have the capability of turning things around, Lewis knows his side can take nothing for granted.
“There’s no point hiding from the fact we’re in a bit of a relegation dogfight now,” admitted the back-row forward.
“I just hope this reality check will bring the best out of the players, because if it does then we won’t have much to worry about.
“But it’s obvious we need to start improving, and improving pretty quickly.
“Against Harrogate the other day, I thought we were dominant in the scrum and should have used that weapon and the driving mauls a little bit more.
“On the other hand, we dropped off too many tackles, which you can’t afford to do against a Harrogate side who are so good and sharp in the backs.
“I also thought there were some individual positives. Ben Mitchell was outstanding at outside centre and Chris Bell had a strong all-round game.
“But when you’ve lost a game like this, when you know you can have done so much better and have suffered on the League table as a result, it’ pretty tough to take.”
