THE key to any Huddersfield Town revival must be to get the midfield functioning again.

At the moment, that department is neither protecting the back four nor supporting the front line – and Town are suffering.

During the early part of the season, Simon Grayson’s midfield were buzzing and they need to get back to that sort of form, either with the current players or some new ones.

Town do not have insurmountable problems, but this is now a relegation battle and the sooner they start putting some points on the board, the better.

We’ve seen many times in the past that getting out of a bad run can be achieved by returning to the basics, keeping things simple and concentrating on your own strengths.

Fair enough, address the weaknesses, that’s a given, but don’t lose sight of what your own strengths are.

And Town have a ‘free’ 90 minutes on Saturday to help get things sorted for the tough run of Championship matches coming up.

An FA Cup victory at Charlton would be welcome, don’t get me wrong, but the most important thing is for Town to rediscover some shape, purpose, pride and confidence.

Grayson needs his leaders to step forward, so perhaps a recall for the skipper should be prominent. Peter Clarke alongside Joel Lynch in the centre of defence worked well at the start of the season, with Jack Hunt and Paul Dixon as full-backs, and it can work well again.

Jermaine Beckford and James Vaughan are a formidable frontline – one no opposition in the division can take lightly – so that leaves midfield selection as key.

Someone who will put his foot through a tackle – like Tom Clarke – might make an impact, maybe with Adam Clayton in a central role.

Then the wingmen need to be told to attack, get the ball in the box as often as possible and everyone to have more efforts at goal, being positive in all that they do.

Discipline is important, but the focus must be on what Town can do best.