Huddersfield Town will look to bounce back from the setback of a stoppage-time defeat to Middlesbrough when they host Wigan Athletic tomorrow night.

Chris Powell's first game in charge of the Terriers looked set to yield a 1-1 stalemate after Jonathan Stead's late leveller but an inexplicable foul from Tommy Smith on Adam Reach presented Grant Leadbitter with the chance to steal the spoils from the penalty spot, which he gleefully accepted.

It proved a baptism of fire for Powell, who witnessed his side outplayed by a comfortable Boro outfit and admitted after the game that plenty of work has to be done to make Town competitive in a tough-looking Championship.

The visit of Uwe Rosler's men represents a second home game in quick succession and a chance to lift what is becoming an increasingly weighty monkey on the back of securing a first home win since March 1 when they routed Barnsley 5-0.

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The Terriers trailed to a stunning first-half free-kick from Leadbitter but the deficit could, and perhaps should, have been greater with Kike going close on a few occasions and substitute Jelle Vossen also whistling an effort just past the post before a frantic finale saw Stead equalise and Leadbitter net his second.

Including the Barnsley thrashing, Town have won just three times at the John Smith's Stadium in 2014 and one of those victories actually came against the Latics, with former midfielder Adam Clayton's late goal sealing a 1-0 triumph back in February.

If Town required any other sort of positive statistic to restore confidence, then the fact Wigan have lost each and every one of their four away games so far this term in all competitions surely bodes well.

Here are the three battles which could decide the meeting with Uwe Rosler's side as Town prepare for their second successive John Smith's Stadium outing.

Tommy Smith v Callum McManaman

Can Smith recover from his personal nightmare against Middlesbrough when he takes on the Latics' in-form forward?
Can Smith recover from his personal nightmare against Middlesbrough when he takes on the Latics' in-form forward?
 

Normally so athletic, tenacious and willing, Saturday's performance from the Town right-back was as close to an antithesis of his playing style as you could imagine.

He looked strangely rather inhibited throughout defensively and there were few if no ventures into enemy territory as he struggled to press claims for a place in what is becoming something of a new-look back four.

That he conceded the penalty late on for a rash challenge on Reach merely served to epitomise what proved an extremely bad day at the office for Smith, but the Championship is an unforgiving league and there is no room for respite with another game just around the corner.

It must feel like salt in the wounds that he comes directly up against the Latics' star man of the season so far in McManaman. Four goals so far this season - only four players have managed more - illustrates the final-third inventiveness of the speedy winger.

Wigan lined up in a 3-5-2 shape at the weekend and McManaman was given a more prominent role centrally, but his tendency to pull wide and then jink back onto his favoured right foot promises to offer Smith another test of his defensive credentials.

Lee Peltier v Emyr Huws

Town's captain will have to keep his discipline against the Latics' gifted midfield schemer
Town's captain will have to keep his discipline against the Latics' gifted midfield schemer
 

Smith's selection at right-back meant Peltier was ushered into an anchorman role at the base of the midfield and there were tangible signs that he can provide Town with a more solid foundation for more creative characters such as Jacob Butterfield to flourish.

Peltier's quarrelsome demeanour was the only slight on an otherwise courageous performance as he tackled firmly, passed neatly and drove purposefully.

Unless Smith's last-minute blunder costs him his place in the team at right-back, expect Peltier to remain where he is with Jonathan Hogg out but he faces an almost entirely different assignment to picking up Boro's Lee Tomlin on Saturday.

For he comes up against a talented diminutive playmaker in Huws, who has the agility and deftness with the ball at his feet to cause plenty of problems should he overcome a niggle to feature tomorrow.

The Latics have a good balance to their new-look midfield trio in that William Kvist sits and patrols, Don Cowie is the driving force of the side with endless energy reserves and Huws is the man who makes them tick.

And all of this before you even consider Adam Forshaw, a player Rosler worked tirelessly to draft in from former employers Brentford, so it promises to be a busy evening for Peltier.

Danny Ward v James Perch

Will Ward be handed the chance to prove his worth after setting up Jonathan Stead's goal against Middlesbrough?
Will Ward be handed the chance to prove his worth after setting up Jonathan Stead's goal against Middlesbrough?
 

There is by no means a guarantee that he will start, with manager Powell giving the impression post-match on Saturday that two attacking flankers makes his side a little too top-heavy with another two forwards up top.

If he continues with his experiment of playing Butterfield out wide, then Ward will ultimately face a battle with Harry Bunn for left-wing honours, where he impressed as a second-half substitute on Saturday.

We may finally have lift-off with a player who has failed to truly hit his stride so far this season, with an abject display against Nottingham Forest in the 2-0 Capital One Cup defeat perhaps his lowest ebb of the campaign so far, having failed to use the hat-trick he scored at Watford on the final day of 2013/2014 as a springboard.

He supplied the cross for Stead to level on Saturday in a lively 10-minute outing and he will hope to benefit from Wigan's five-man midfield setup by isolating Perch in the full-back position and showing a similar ability to beat his man and deliver as he did to great success at the weekend.

Perch has been arguably the Latics' most consistent defender so far and was rewarded for his early-season promise with a low volley to open the scoring at Blackburn Rovers before his side collapsed in a 3-1 defeat.