Huddersfield Town manager Danny Cowley has suggested that Richard Stearman has brought some real leadership and experience to the Terriers since his arrival at the club, which helped them keep themselves in the game during their defeat at Leeds United.

Stearman has been a vital presence of the Terriers at the heart of their defence since he made the move to the club in January following his departure from Sheffield United, with the experienced defender making ten appearances in the Championship and helping to improve Huddersfield’s consistency.

The 32-year-old was influential in helping Cowley’s side withstand multiple periods of intense pressure from Leeds at Elland Road on Saturday, with the defender helping the Terriers keep themselves in with a chance of getting back into the game, before they were eventually beaten.

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Speaking to Yorkshire Live, Cowley suggested that Stearman’s impact on the side was one show at Elland Road, with the Huddersfield manager suggesting that they might have lost the game by a larger margin earlier in the campaign without the defender’s presence in the side.

He said: "He is full of experience, has got real desire and showed the fighting qualities you need because we could have gone under, let's be honest, and previous teams in recent times might have gone under - and we didn't.

"We stayed in it, we showed fight throughout and, towards the end of the game, we had some moments.

"Stears had a terrific game, he's a leader of men - a real character.

"He was what we needed and I thought he had a really good game (at Leeds)."

The Verdict

You can certainly see where Cowley is coming from here, with Stearman having been a highly influential performer ever since he arrived at the club in the January transfer window, and the 32-year-old has been key to helping the Terriers build greater consistency in their performances.

Stearman was on hand to ensure that Leeds were unable to create a high volume of clear-cut chances, despite them dominating the ball and putting Huddersfield under long periods of pressure, which did provide Cowley’s side with a chance of potentially getting back into the contest.

Leeds, though, is not the sort of game that will define Huddersfield’s season, and they will be needing Stearman to continue to improve their defensive organisation during the last nine matches of the campaign, as they look to move themselves away from the bottom three.

Were Huddersfield to survive then Stearman would have undoubtedly played a major role, and the Terriers would have a real platform to build on next term with the experienced defender’s presence at the heart of their defence.