David Wagner’s Huddersfield Town side have surprised many this season, by staging an unlikely promotion challenge.

The Terriers started the season well, winning five from their opening six fixtures in the Sky Bet Championship.

Again, many were surprised by the league’s early leaders and expected them to fall off as the likes of Newcastle United, Brighton and Aston Villa found their feet.

We now sit in February and Wagner’s side are currently third in the Championship table, four-points outside the automatic promotion places, with the minimum of a Play-Off spot expected come May.

Newcastle and Brighton currently occupy the automatic promotion places, but here are TWO reasons why Huddersfield are the biggest threat to the top-two:

Loan signings

Huddersfield made good use of the loan market in both summer and January, where they secured the services of some highly thought of young players, from England’s biggest teams.

Aaron Mooy joined the club from Manchester City in the summer and has been key to the Terriers’ form this season, scoring twice and running games from the centre of midfield.

Wagner also brought in Chelsea forward Kasey Palmer in July, and the 20-year old has bagged five goals across all competitions during his 26 appearances.

As Huddersfield entered January, already looking finely poised for a promotion challenge, Wagner brought yet another Chelsea youngster to the club, this time Izzy Brown.

Brown spent the first-half of the season on-loan with Rotherham, before linking up with Town to aid their promotion challenge.

The attacking midfielder has given Wagner’s side more energy in the ‘number ten’ role, and already has three goals to his name for Huddersfield.

These three players have masses of ability, which is why some of the top teams in the country have them on their books, Wagner is lucky to have them at his disposal, and they could help fire Town to promotion.

Already had their rough patch

Most teams in the Championship go through a spell where they can’t buy a win, and Huddersfield seem to have already had theirs.

Following their impressive start to the season, Wagner’s side were routed 5-0 at Fulham, on October 29th and failed to win again until December 10th.

Many believed that this was Town’s promising start to the season coming to an end and Huddersfield’s season would fizzle out into a mid-table finish.

However, Wagner’s side have come back strong from that disappointment, and recently put in impressive displays to beat Brighton and Leeds United, showing they had found another level.

Huddersfield overcame their difficult spell in November, and with momentum building in West Yorkshire, Wagner’s side could soon be knocking at the door of the top-two.