This article is part of Football League World’s ‘Terrace Talk’ series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Huddersfield Town are enjoying a remarkable season in the Championship - despite being written off by many as potential relegation candidates.

The Terriers ended the 2020-21 campaign in poor form, winning just two of their last 15 matches and finished in 20th position in the second tier.

There's no chance of the Yorkshire outfit being in a struggle in 2021-22 though, as for a moment on Saturday when they were 2-0 up against Birmingham City, Carlos Corberan's side sat second in the table.

Bournemouth eventually took their spot back after defeating Stoke City, but in the Midlands on the same afternoon, Town extended their unbeaten run in the Championship to a mammoth 15 outings.

There have been many standout individuals for the Terriers this season, but Football League World's Huddersfield fan pundit Graeme Rayner believes that it is the leadership and experience of Jonathan Hogg that has gone under the radar and has been the catalyst for some of the performances.

"It's a hard one because Danny Ward - at the start of the season I was a critic and a lot of Town fans criticised his form, Duane Holmes the same and both of those have come really good since November time," Rayner said.

"This may seem like a strange answer, our most underrated player is probably still Jonathan Hogg.

"Lots of Town fans seem to get frustrated with his style of play at times, but he is the heartbeat of the team in terms of battle, endeavour and actually when he has a prolonged period out of the team we struggle.

"So I actually think he underpins and lays the foundation for an awful lot of the success we're having

"And what's reassuring to see is that Jon Russell is coming through and it appears he may be being moulded into a natural successor for Hogg in terms of playing in that number six role and potentially maybe better equipped to play slightly more creatively than Hogg can.

"But I think Jonny Hogg is one of those players where you notice his value most when he's not playing - you miss him when he's not there.

"So I'd say some Town fans need to be careful what they wish for when they say that they wish he was out of the team or be replaced because without him, some of the bigger, better teams would have run us along."

The Verdict

Huddersfield's unbeaten run began when Hogg was out of the team due to injury, but they do look a lot more steady and stable when he's playing at the base of midfield.

His defensive work rate allows Lewis O'Brien the freedom to move up the pitch and he has to be one of the first names on the team-sheet at this point.

Due to being 33 years of age and playing in a role that needs a lot of energy, Hogg won't be able to play 46 games in a season even if he does stay injury free, but he does provide that experience and his ability to break up play has been very good this season.

The club may have to upgrade if they win promotion to the Premier League, but for now Hogg is the perfect fit for what Corberan wants.