Huddersfield Town picked up their first win of 2022/23 this afternoon, beating Stoke City 3-1 at the John Smith’s Stadium. 

It’s been a rough start to Danny Schofield’s spell in-charge of the Terriers, with three straight defeats in all competitions.

Today, though, his side put in a much-improved performance to pick up a vital three points at a sun-kissed John Smith’s Stadium.

Stoke, in fairness to them, had the better chances in the opening exchanges of the game.

Lewis Baker missed a golden opportunity from the penalty spot on 20 minutes after Josh Ruffels’ high boot had caught Josh Laurent. Lee Nicholls saving low to his left to deny Stoke’s skipper.

Jacob Brown hit the post on the second phase, with Ben Wilmot’s header clearing the crossbar shortly after that.

Despite a more encouraging start from Schofield’s side than we’ve seen so far this season, it wasn’t until after the scheduled drinks break that Huddersfield really started threatening Stoke.

A couple of good deliveries put the Potters under pressure before Sorba Thomas, Town’s assist king last season, delivered a corner onto the head of Yuta Nakayama, who opened the scoring on his first Championship start with a bullet header.

Schofield will have hoped that goal heading into half-time would kick Huddersfield on. Unfortunately, it was Michael O’Neill’s men that began the second-half as they had the first: on the front foot.

They drew parity via the right-foot of Baker, who passed a shot into Nicholls’ bottom after Huddersfield failed to clear.

As Stoke continued to push, Dwight Gayle was twice denied, firstly by Ollie Turton’s impressive covering run and then an offside flag.

Huddersfield, though, had the perfect response to those moments.

Duane Holmes provided fresh legs from the bench in sweltering conditions, bursting into the penalty area and squaring for Danny Ward to finish.

After shaky moments, Town were on their way to that first win to lift the pressure off Schofield and his squad. That pressure was visibly off as Jack Rudoni set Holmes through once more, offering him the chance to square to fellow substitute Jordan Rhodes for a third.

The talk of this shaping up into a “must-win” game for Huddersfield felt premature, but there can be no denying how important it was for Schofield’s side to show improvements in every department.

They managed that and were rewarded with a result.

FT: Huddersfield Town 3-1 Stoke City.