ANTHONY GERRARD has challenged Huddersfield Town to rediscover the form which lifted them to second in the Championship as they aim to topple Ian Holloway in front of the Sky cameras once again at Crystal Palace today.

The hugely experienced manager suffered a first home loss of the campaign as Blackpool boss when Town won 3-1 at Bloomfield Road on September 24, when they were behind only Brighton in the standings.

Simon Grayson’s inconsistent side have since slipped to 17th while Holloway has traded the North-West coast for South London, succeeding Bolton-bound Dougie Freedman at Palace, who now occupy second spot behind Cardiff.

The former Bristol Rovers, QPR, Plymouth and Leicester chief, 49, has yet to taste a home defeat in his nine games at the helm, five of which have been won, but Gerrard, who made his first league start for Town at Blackpool, is determined to change that.

The no-nonsense centre-back cut a disconsolate figure in the wake of last Saturday’s disappointing 2-0 defeat at Hull, where he spent the season before last on loan from Cardiff and where Town lost for the fourth time in a six-game spell which has yielded just two points.

“We started the season really well,” said the 26-year-old, who joined Town in the close-season after falling down the pecking order under Cardiff manager Malky Mackay and has made 17 appearances, 11 of those starts.

“We played with a lot of passion and fire, but lately that seems to have left us. We’ve been disappointing for the last eight to 10 games. I don’t think that’s good enough for the fans or the club.

“Promotion last season did massive things for the club, the fans and the town. I think early doors the players embraced it and played with no fear. We need to get back to where we were and sharpish.

“Everybody needs to stand up for themselves and nobody should be complacent. After recent performances I don’t think anyone has a right to walk into the team.”

Ex-Everton trainee and Walsall player Gerrard was equally blunt about the below-par performance at Hull, admitting: “We went down with a bit of a whimper.

“In the first half we were absolutely average and got what we deserved. In the second half we had more of a go, but they got another goal and it killed the game.

“We didn’t work their keeper anything like as much as we should. I don’t think he had a shot to save, which is very disappointing.

“But that’s the way things go in football sometimes. We now need to pick ourselves up and get back to the form we showed earlier in the season.”

Gerrard also admitted a switch to 3-5-2, with Jack Hunt and Danny Ward as the wing-backs and skipper Peter Clarke and Joel Lynch the other centre-halves, may not have gone as planned, explaining: “We worked on it in the week to mirror how Hull play.

“They’re very fluid going forward and we tried to match it.

“But we didn’t grasp it in the game itself and it’s the players who have got to make the system work.”